■E  EARLY  CHUl^CH 

■prof.  JAMES  ORR.D.D. 

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CHRISTIAN  STUDY  MANUALS 


Edited  by  the  Rev. 
R.    E.    WELSH,    M.A. 


I?FA\  PROFESSOR  JAMES   ORR'S 
THE     EARLY     CHURCH 


NEW   YORK 
A.      C.      ARMSTRONG      AND      SON 

3   AND    5   WEST    EIGHTEENTH    STREET 


hPVLElA 
CRYSOPOUS 
QV'AEVIXirAMWlS^VJI 


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CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS  FROxM  THE  CATACOMBS  (Key,  p.  viii.). 
(Photographed  from  casts  of  the  originals,  in  the  possession  qfthe  Bev.  Archd.  Paterson,  B.D.] 


THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

ITS  HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE 


JAMES   ORR,  M.A.,  DA). 

Fro/essor  0/  Apologetics  and  Systematic  Theology, 
United  Free  Church  College,  Glasgow 


NEW   YORK 
C.      ARMSTRONG      AND      SON 
3    AND    5    WEST    EIGHTEENTH    STREET 


% 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAOE 

The  Jewish  and  Gentile  Preparations       ...        1 

'-^  The  Old  Testament  Preparation— The  Post-Exilian 
Preparation  :  Synagogue  Worship,  Jewish  Sects, 
etc. — The  Greek  Preparation — The  Roman  Pre- 
paration— Christianity  and  Roman  Law. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Apostolic  Age  and  Later  Jewish  Christianity  .      14 

The  Church  of  the  Apostles— Paul  and  the  Judaisiug 
Party — Constitution  and  Worship  of  the  Apostolic 
Churches — Transition  to  Later  Jewish  Christi- 
anity—Nazarenes  and  Ebionites — The  "  Clemen- 
tines ". 

CHAPTER  III. 

Gentile  Christianity:  Nero  to  Domitian  (a.d.  G4-96)      30 

First  Contact  with  the  Empire— Persecution  under 
Nero— Martyrdom  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter- 
Persecution  under  Domitian — Last  Days  of  St. 
John — The  Catacombs. 


327924 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAGE 

The  Age  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  (a.d.  96-117)        .      39 

gjThe  Persecution  in  Bithynia:  Pliny  and  Trajan- 
Martyrdom  of  Ignatius — Literature  of  the  Period  : 
Clement,  Barnabas,  Hermas,  etc, — Theology  of 
"The  Apostolic  Fathers" — The  Ignatian  Episco- 
pacy. 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Age  of  the  Apologists  (a.d.  117-180)    ...      53 

Hadrian  and  Antoninus  Pius—Martyrdom  of  Poly- 
carp — Age  of  the  Antonines — Persecutions  under 
Marcus  Aurelius — Martyrs  of  Vienne  and  Lyons 
— The  Earlier  Apologists  :  Justin  Martyr— Later 
Apologists— The  Literary  Attack  on  Christianity  : 
Celsus  and  Lucian. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Age  of  the  Apologists  {continued) :    Gnosticism 
AND  Montanism  (a.d.  117-180) 

The  Apologists  as  Theologians— The  Gnostic  Systems 
— Montanism — Apocryphal  Writings. 


69 


CHAPTER   VII. 
The  Age  of  the  Old  Catholic  Fathers  (a.d.  180-250) .      81 

From  Commodus  to  Severus  — Persecution  under 
Maximin  —  Progress  of  Christianity  —  Develop- 
ment of  the  Idea  of  the  Old  Catholic  Church — 
New  Testament  Canon— Rule  of  Faith— Apos- 
tolic Succession. 


CONTENTS  vii 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

I'AciK 

The  Age  of  the  Old  Catholic  Fathers  {contiiiiicd) 

(A.D.  180-250) 93 

Irciifcus  of  Gaul  —  Tertullian  of  Cartliagc — The 
Alexandrian  School :  Clement,  Origen  —  The 
Church  of  Rome — Hippolytus  and  Callistus — 
Cyprian  of  Carthage. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Age  of  the  Great  Persecutions  :    Victory  of 

Christianity  (a.d.  250-324) Ill 

Decian  and  Valerian  Persecutions — Effects  of  Perse- 
cutions —  Schisms  —  Empire  and  Church  till 
Diocletian  —  Neo-Platonism  —  Career  and  Char- 
acter of  Constantine — Victory  of  Christianity — 
Donatist  Schism. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Age  of  the  Great  Persecutions  :   Victory  of 

Christianity  {continued)  (a.d.  250-324)    .         .         .     126 

Establishment  of  Christianity — Constantine's  Later 
Years — The  Church  Outside  the  Roman  Empire 
—  Manichaeism  —  The  Monarchian  Heresies  — 
Church  Teachers  and  Literature — Church  Build- 
ings, Ofl&ces,  Services,  etc. — Councils — Rank  in 
the  Episcopate — Conclusion. 


EXPLANATION   OF   FRONTISPIECE. 

{Fur  the  Illustration  and  the  Exjdanation  the  author  is  indebted  to 
the  Rev.  Archd.  Paterson,  B.D.) 

1.  The  Good  Shepherd  (John  x.  11).  In  Early  Christian  Art,  the  G.  S.  is 
always  represented  as  bearing  the  sheep  nn  his  shoulders  (Luke  xv.  5). 
"  Apuleia  Crysopolis  who  lived  seven  years,  2  months  :  The  Parents  placed 
this  to  (the  memory  of)  their  very  dear  daughter."  Of  very  early  date 
(first  half  of  second  century  ?). 

2.  The  Anchor,  symbol  of  hope  (Heb.  vi.  19),  set  within  the  name 
DOMNA. 

3.  The  Anchor.  The  Fish  or  IX0YC,  i.e.  lr)crov^  Xpto-To?,  &eov  Ytoy, 
CwTi7p:  Jesus  Christ,  So7i  of  God,  Saviour.  "The  faithful  {i.e.  baptised) 
child  of  faithful  (i.e.  baptised)  parents,  Zosimus,  here  I  lie:  having  lived  2 
years,  1  month,  25  days." 

4.  The  Anchor :  Dove  (symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Matt.  tii.  16).  URBICA, 
a  design  (like  a  ship)  set  within  a  circle  (eternity?).  Of  very  early  date 
(first  half  of  2nd.  cent.?):  so,  probably,  the  central  design  has  no  such 
highly  developed  symbolical  intention. 

5.  Orante,  i.e.  a  figure  (female  generally)  in  the  attitude  of  prayer  (1  Tim. 
ii.  8):  on  other  side  a  shepherd  holding  a  (?)  mulctrum  (milking  paM)  and 
leaning  on  a  staff ;  a  sheep,  or  goat  (?)  beside  him.  "  Moses  in  his  lifetime 
had  this  monument  prepared  for  himself  and  his  wife." 

6.  Anchor,  Fish,  Bread  (Eucharistic  Bread?).  "  Aegrilius  Bottus  Phila- 
despotus,  most  sweet  and  dutiful  (son).  His  parents  erected  this  to  his 
memory.  He  lived  9  years,  40  days."  M.S.  (?)  memoriae  sacrum,  i.e. 
"  sacred  to  his  memory  ".  This  monument  is  not  a  slab  but  an  upright 
stele  or  pillar  of  square  section. 

7.  Our  Lord  raising  Lazarus.  Our  Lord  is  touching  the  head  of  Lazarus 
with  the  virga  potestatis,  or  rod  of  power, 

8.  Sheep :  Peacock  (symbol  of  immortality  ?).  "  Aelia  Victorina  placed 
(this  slab)  to  (the  memory  of)  Aurelia  Proba." 

9.  A  Chirurgeon's  outfit :  forceps,  etc.     Part  of  a  very  long  slab. 

10.  Dove  perched  on  Olive  Branch  :  Lamb  :  Anchor.  In  the  '  stock  '  or 
transverse  beam  of  the  anchor  it  may  be  that  we  are  to  find  a  furtive 
representation  of  the  Cross.  "  Faustinianus."  Of  very  early  date  (first 
half  of  2nd.  century  ?). 

11.  A  '  modius '  or  corn  measure  filled  with  wheat:  (also  a  sheaf  of 
wheat  on  either  side):  a  figure  standing  by,  holding,  not  the  'rod  of 
power'  as  in  nos.  7  and  13,  but  a  roller  for  pressing  along  the  rim  of  the 
modius,  and  so  giving  just  measure.  "  Maximinus,  who  lived  23  years  : 
the  friend  of  all."  This,  like  no.  9  and  in  part  no.  12,  is  a  trade  symbol, 
not  a  religious  symbol.  The  amiable  Maximinus  was  probably  a  corn 
merchant. 

12.  Chi-Rho  (first  two  letters  of  XPICTOC,  Christ),  commonly  called 
"the  Constantino  monogram,"  with  Alpha  and  Omega  (Rev.  i.  8);  the 
whole  set  in  a  chaplet.  The  barrel  denotes  that  SEVERUS  was  a  vintner. 

13.  Raising  of  Lazarus  (as  in  no.  7).  Our  Lord's  head  is  encircled  by  a 
nimbus  or  halo.  The  inscription,  in  bad  Latin,  probably  means,  "  Datus 
and  Bonosa,  the  parents,  placed  this  to  the  memory  of  their  son  Datus, 
who  lived  20  years.     In  peace," 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  JEWISH  AND  GENTILE  PKEPAKATIONS. 

The  Iiistory  of  the  Church  may  be  said  in  strictness  to 
begin  with  the  Day  of  Pentecost.  The  Day  of  Pente- 
cost, however  —  the  conception  of  the  Church  alto- 
gether—  had  its  antecedents.  The  New  Jerusalem 
did  not  come  dosm  from  heaven  quite  as  it  is  pictured 
in  the  Apocalypse,  without  manifold  links  of  connec- 
tion with  the  past.  St.  Paul  has  this  in  view  when 
he  sa3^s  that  it  was  in  "  the  fulness  of  the  time  "  that 
God  sent  forth  His  Son  (Gal.  iv.  4). 

1.  The  Old  Testament  Preparation.  —  Mani- 
festly, the  Christian  Church  has  a  peculiar  and  genetic 
relation  to  the  Old  Testament.  For  the  Old  Testament 
community  was  also  in  its  way  a  Theocracy — a  Church 
(c/.  Acts  vii.  38;  Heb.  ii.  12).  The  word  ecdesia, 
used  in  the  New  Testament  to  designate  the  Christian 
society,  is  that  chiefly  used  in  the  LXX  as  the  equi- 
valent of  the  Hebrew  word  qahal,  assembly  or  congre- 
gation. ^  Though  bound  up  with  national  forms, 
that  theocracy  ever  cherished  in  its  bosom  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  UNivERSALLSTic  DESTINY.  Older  than 
the  national  form  in  its  existence  was  the  patriarchal 
— the  covenants  with  the  Fathers — and  here  already  we 
have  the  clear  enunciation  of  the  idea  that  Israel  was 
a  people  called  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  blessing 
of  the  race  (Gen.  xii.  3,  xviii.  18,  etc.).     That   idea 

^  On  terms  cf.  Hort's  Christian  Ecdesia,  Lect.  I. 
1 


2  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

reaches  its  fullest  expression  in  the  glowing  predic- 
tions of  the  Prophets  and  the  Psalms  (e.g.,  Is.  Ix. ;  Ps. 
Ixxxvii.,  R.V.).  With  the  prophets,  too,  we  see  the 
rise  of  a  new  idea — the  thought  of  a  Church  within  a 
Church,  a  true  and  spiritiial  Israel  within  the  natural 
Israel — which  is  the  birtli  of  the  Church  idea  proper 
((/.  Is.  viii.  16-18).  A  further  important  step  in  the 
formation  of  the  Church  consciousness  was  taken  in 
the  Babylonian  Exile,  when  the  people,  driven  from 
their  land,  and  deprived  of  holy  city,  temple  and 
sacrifices,  became  a  Church  in  the  full  meaning  of  the 
word.  Their  return  to  Palestine  did  not  annul  this 
feature  of  their  religious  life.  On  the  contrary,  their 
return  was  marked  by  a  new  development  of  religious 
institutions — priestly  government,  the  formation  of  a 
canon  of  Scripture,  the  rise  of  scribism,  the  reading 
and  teaching  of  the  law — all  which  prepared  the 
way  for  the  liberation  of  the  Church  idea  from  its 
national  and  political  form. 

'    2.  The   Post-Exilian   Preparation. — Of  special 
V  importance  in  this  connection  are  the  four  following 
series  of  facts  : — 

(1)  The  rise  and  spread  of  Synagogue  Worship. — 
The  synagogue  may  go  back  to  the  days  of  Ezra ;  in  any 
case  it  was  a  prominent  institution  after  the  return, 
both  in  Judea  and  in  the  lands  of  the  dispersion  (Acts 
XV.  21).  We  note  about  it,  in  contrast  with  the 
temple,  its  local  character,  giving  it  practical  uni- 
versality ;  its  simple  and  spiritual  worship — reading 
of  law  and  prophets,  reciting  of  prayers,  singing  or 
rather  chanting  of  psalms,  a  discourse  or  exhortation, 
in  which  the  passage  read  was  expounded  and  applied, 
a  concluding  blessing  ;  and  the  absence  of  all  priestly 
or  sacerdotal  offices.  The  officials  were  the  **  elders^ 
(probably  identical  in  towns  with  the  civic  elders),  the 


JEWISH  AND  GENTILE  PREPARATIONS      3 

archisynagogos  or  "  ruler  "  (one  or  more )J  who  had  the 
charge  of  the  public  worship,  the  "minister"  or 
servant  (Luke  iv.  20),  corresponding  to  the  modern 
sacristan  or  beadle,  "  collectors  of  alms,"  with  an 
"  interpreter  "  (Targumist)  to  give  the  sense  of  the 
lessons  in  the  current  Aramaic.^  ;^  There  was  consider- 
able freedom  in  the  service.  The  Scriptures  were 
read,  the  prayers  recited,  the  exhortations  given,  not 
by  officials,  but  by  persons  selected  from  the  congrega- 
tion (Luke  iv.  16-20  ;  Acts  xiii.  15).  The  resemblance 
to  a  simple  Christian  service  is  obvious. 

(2)  The  rise  of  the  Jewish  Sects. — The  greater 
part  of  the  period  after  the  exile  is  an  absolute  blank 
in  our  knowledge.  The  one  thing  certain  is  that  from 
the  time  of  Ezra  the  nation  set  before  it  as  its  ideal 
the  strict  observance  of  the  law  of  Moses.  Hence  the 
rise  of  an  order  of  men  whose  special  business  it  was 
to  guard,  develop  and  expound  the  law — the  order  of 
the  Scribes.  When  the  curtain  lifts  again  in  the  time 
of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (b.c.  175),  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  different  atmosphere,  and  the  three  parties  of  his- 
torical note  among  the  Jews  are  already  in  existence. 
The  Pharisees  first  appear  as  a  party  of  protest, 
against  the  lax  Hellenising  tendencies  of  the  period. 
The  name  they  bore — "Assidseans"  (Heb.  Chasidim) 
— denotes  them  as  the  strictly  '*  pious  "  or  "  Puritans  " 
of  their  day.  Parties  of  this  kind,  how^ever,  are 
peculiarly  liable  to  degeneration,  and  in  their  exag- 
gerated scrupulosity  and  excessive  literalism,  the  "Assi- 
dseans"  soon  sank  into  the  "Pharisees"  (separated) 
as  w^e  know  them  in  the  Gospels.  The  Sadducees 
(from  Zadok),  on  the  other  hand,  were  not  a  religious 

^  The  "  ten  men  of  leisure,"  said  to  be  retained  to  form  a 
quorum,  are  subject  of  controversy. 


4  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

party  at  all,  but  simply  a  political  or  aristocratic 
clique,  into  whose  possession  the  honours  of  the  high 
priesthood  and  other  influential  offices  hereditarily 
passed.  They  represent  the  worldly-wise,  diplomatic, 
time-serving  party  in  the  state,  men  of  sceptical, 
rationalistic  temper,  and  epicurean  in  their  view  of 
life.  Of  much  greater  importance  for  the  history  of 
the  Church,  though  not  mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  is 
the  third  of  these  parties — the  Essenes.  These  had 
their  chief  settlement  in  the  desert  of  Engedi,  on  the 
north-west  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea,  but  were  found  also 
in  the  towns  and  villages  throughout  Palestine.  Their 
total  number  was  about  4,000.  At  Engedi  they  lived 
as  a  sort  of  brotherhood  with  customs  of  their  own. 
They  offered  no  animal  sacrifices,  contenting  them- 
selves with  sending  to  the  temple  gifts  of  incense. 
They  abounded  in  lustrations,  and  wore  white  gar- 
ments. They  rejected  marriage,  and  practised  com- 
munity of  goods.  Their  employments  were  chiefly 
agricultural,  but  in  the  towns  they  exercised  trades. 
They  had  the  peculiar  custom  (perhaps  Oriental)  of 
greeting  the  sunrise  with  prayers.  They  forbade 
slavery,  war,  and  oaths,  were  given  to  occult  studies, 
had  secret  doctrines  and  books,  etc.  The  superficial 
resemblances  have  led  some  to  trace  Christianity  itself 
to  Essene  sources,  but  in  fundamental  ideas  no  systems 
could  be  more  opposed.  We  shall  see  that  Essenism 
probably  became  ultimately  merged  in  a  form  of 
Christianity. 

(3)  The  Judaism  of  the  Dispersion.— The  dispersion 
had  its  origin  in  the  captivities,  but  was  more  due  to 
voluntary  settlements  for  trade.  The  Greek  rulers 
did  everything  they  could  to  attract  settlers  to  their 
newly-founded  cities,  and  the  troubles  in  Palestine 
made  multitudes  willing  to  leave  their  native  country. 


JEWISH  AND  GENTILE  PREPARATIONS      5 

Thus  it  came  about  that  there  was  hardly  a  land  or 
city  where  Jews  were  not  to  be  found.  They  some- 
times had  rights  of  citizenship,  and  in  many  places, 
as  in  Alexandria,  enjoyed  special  privileges.  The 
effect  on  the  Jew  himself  was  profoundly  and  insensibly 
to  modify  his  whole  manner  of  thought.  A  freer 
spirit  was  necessarily  introduced.  From  being  a 
citizen  of  Zion,  he  became  a  citizen  of  the  world. 
The  dispersion  provided  points  of  contact  for  Christi- 
anity through  the  spread  of  the  synagogues  {cf.  Acts, 
passim),  the  circulation  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  in 
the  Greek  tongue,  above  all  through  the  creation  of 
a  large  body  of  proselytes.  But  outside  the  circle  of 
proselytes  proper  there  was  in  most  communities  a 
following  of  converts — the  *'  devout  persons  "  of  the 
New  Testament  (Acts  x.  2,  22;  xiii.  16,  26,  etc.) — 
who,  while  attending  the  synagogues,  only  observed 
the  Mosaic  law  in  certain  leading  points — e.g.,  the  Sab- 
bath. Many  of  the  first  converts  of  the  Gospel  were 
drawn  from  this  class.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
admission  of  proselytes  was  not  only  by  circumcision 
and  sacrifice,  but  by  baptism,  and,  if  Talmudic  state- 
ments are  to  be  trusted,  the  children  of  proselytes  were 
baptised  with  their  parents. 

(4)  The  contact  of  Jewish  thought — particularly  at 
Alexandria — with  Hellenic  Culture  and  Philosophy. 
— The  classical  name  here  is  Philo,  though  the  elements 
of  Philo's  doctrine  are  already  met  with  in  the  Apocry- 
phal Book  of  Wisdom.  Philo  was  born  about  B.C.  20, 
and  lived  till  near  the  middle  of  the  first  century. 
He  was  therefore  a  contemporary  of  both  Christ  and 
St.  Paul.  Profoundly  versed  in  Greek  philosophy  and 
literature,  he  sought  to  bring  about  an  amalgamation 
of  Jewish  and  Greek  modes  of  thought.  His  character- 
istic doctrine  is  that  of  the  Logos  or  "  Word  "  of  God, 


6  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

whom  he  conceives  of  partly  in  Platonic  and  Stoical 
fashion,  but  whom,  at  the  same  time,  following  hints 
of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  Jewish  schools,  he 
tends  to  hypostatise,  or  interpose  as  a  distinct  person- 
ality between  God  and  His  creation.  His  doctrine  has 
often  been  compared  with  that  of  the  Apostle  John. 
There  are,  however,  radical  contrasts.  The  Apostle 
has  his  feet  on  historic  facts  (John  i.  14  ;  1  John  i. 
1-3).  Philo's  theory  would  have  repelled  an  incar- 
nation. 

3.  Providential  Mission  of  Greece  and  Rome. — 
The  splendour  of  Athens  in  the  age  of  Pericles  should 
not  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  for  Greece  as  a  whole  the 
fifth  century  B.C.  was  an  age  of  decline. ^  The  great 
colonising  energy  of  Greece  was  in  the  previous  century. 
The  mission  of  the  Greeks  was  not  to  be  the  rulers, 
but  the  INTELLECTUAL  EDUCATORS  of  mankind.  The 
rule  passed  to  Macedonia,  and  for  a  brief  moment  it 
seemed  as  if  Alexander's  dream  of  a  Greek  empire  of 
the  world  was  to  be  realised.  His  empire  fell  to  pieces 
at  his  death,  but  his  great  design  was  fulfilled  of 
diffusing  Greek  letters  and  culture  wherever  his  arms 
had  gone.  Rome  gradually  gathered  up  the  fragments 
of  the  Macedonian  empire,  but  Rome  herself  yielded 
to  the  intellectual  supremacy  of  Greece.  It  cannot 
be  too  firmly  grasped  how  profoundly  Greek  influences 
had  taken  possession  of  the  Roman  empire  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era.  Greek  language,  Greek 
philosophy,  Greek  literature,  Greek  culture  were  every- 
where. Rome  itself  was  at  this  time  in  great  measure, 
what  Juvenal  calls  it,  a  Greek  city.  It  is  a  fact  which 
may  not  always  strike  us  that  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
was  written  in  Greek. 

1  Cf.  Freeman, 


JEWISH  AND  GENTILE  PREPARATIONS      7 

While,  however,  profoundly  influenced  by  Greece, 
Rome's  i)rovidential  mission  was  different  from  hers. 
It  was  the  task  of  Greece  to  show  what  the  human 
mind  can  do  at  its  highest  and  best  in  the  way  of 
natural  development ;  to  teach  the  world  the  elements 
of  her  own  culture  and  civilisation ;  to  give  it  a 
language  fitted  for  every  noble  purpose  of  thought  and 
life.  It  was  the  function  of  Rome  to  bind  the  nations 
together  into  a  great  political  unity — to  weld  them 
by  strong  bonds  of  law  and  government  into  a  vast,  uni- 
versal commonwealth.  The  practical  instinct  of  the 
Roman  people  and  their  genius  for  government  enabled 
them  to  accomplish  this  as  no  other  people  of  the  world 
could  have  done.  It  is  no  chance  coincidence  that 
the  hour  of  the  completion  of  this  great  political  fabric 
was  also  that  of  the  birth  of  Christianity — that  the 
two  events  almost  completely  synchronised.  The 
world-empire  and  the  world-religion  came  into  being 
together. 

i.  The  Greek  Preparation. — The  very  intensity 
of  the  intellectual  development  in  Athens  tended  to 
hasten  a  moral  dissolution.  The  Greek  religion  was 
not  one  which  would  bear  looking  at  critically.  The 
POPULAR  theology  iu  Greece  was  simply  that  of  the 
poems  of  Homer.  When  this  is  said,  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  its  foundations  must  have  been  swept  away  the 
moment  men  began  to  incjuire  rationally  into  the  causes 
of  things,  and  to  entertain  more  elevated  moral  concep- 
tions. Morality  in  the  older  period  had  rested  largely 
on  tradition — on  custom.  Now  a  spirit  of  inquiry  had 
set  in  which  would  allow  nothing  to  custom.  A  class 
of  popular  educators  had  arisen  who  had  no  difficulty 
in  dissolving  the  most  cherished  beliefs  in  the  play  of 
their  sceptical  dialectic.  Other  causes  aided  the  col- 
lapse.    Even  the  enervation  of  morals  by  the  refine- 


8  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

merit  and  luxury  of  the  prosperous  period  was  not  so 
fatal  to  moral  life  as  the  long-continued  and  exhaust- 
ing wars  of  states,  with  their  woeful  lack  of  principle 
in  public  men,  the  constant  breach  of  faith  in  treaties, 
the  strife  of  factions,  and  like  evils. 

But  Greece  had  a  more  important  service  to  do  for 
Christianity  than  simply  to  reveal  the  depths  of  her 
own  moral  impotence.  The  preparation  had  a  positive 
SIDE  as  well.  With  the  overthrow  of  the  old  religion 
there  was  going  on,  on  the  jmrt  of  the  nobler  spirits, 
a  search  for  a  more  rational  and  abiding  foundation 
for  religion  ;  with  the  overthrow  of  the  old  morality 
there  began  with  Socrates  the  search  for  a  deeper 
ground  of  morality  in  man's  own  nature  ;  with  the 
breaking  up  of  the  old  states  there  was  seen  in 
Stoicism  the  rise  of  the  conception  of  a  state  or 
commonwealth  based  on  reason,  wide  as  the  world, 
and  embracing  man  in  a  new  brotherhood.  In  these 
THREE  DIRECTIONS  therefore,  (1)  a  more  inward  view  of 
morality,  (2)  the  recognition  of  a  common  nature  in 
man,  and  the  reaching  out  to  a  universal  form  of 
society,  and  (3)  a  tendency  to  Monotheism,  clearly 
discernible  in  all  the  nobler  minds,  we  are  to  look 
for  the  positive  preparation  for  Christianity  in  the 
ancient  world.  But  all  these  advances  of  the  human 
spirit  could  not  avert  the  dissolution  of  belief  and 
morals.  The  note  of  uncertainty  in  later  Greek 
philosophy  is  very  marked  (Sceptical  Schools).  The 
most  earnest  minds  were  those  who  felt  it  most 
deeply.  Dissatisfied  with  human  opinion  they  felt, 
as  Plato  phrases  it,  the  need  of  some  "  word  of 
God,"  which  would  more  surely  carry  them  (Pheedo). 

5.  The  Roman  Preparation. — If  the  philosophy 
of  Greece  could  not  save  Greece  itself,  it  was  not  to 
be  expected  that  it  would  be  able  to  save  Rome.     The 


JEWISH  AND  GENTILE   PREPARATIONS      9 

Romans  were  a  people  of  graver,  more  serious  dis- 
position than  tl)c  Greeks.  They  liad  not  tlie  (piick, 
versatile  imagination  of  the  Greeks.  Their  gods  were 
mostly  personifications  of  abstract  ideas  (Justice,  Pity, 
Clemency,  Pleasure,  and  the  like).  Religion  was  to 
them  a  very  serious  part  of  the  business  of  life,  to 
be  engaged  in  with  strict  formality,  and  punctilious 
observance  of  prescribed  rites.  Their  gods  were  viewed, 
too,  as  more  really  the  guardians  of  fidelity  and  virtue 
in  household  and  state  than  among  the  Greeks.  All 
testimonies  accordingly  bear  witness  to  the  severe 
virtue  and  simple  manners  of  the  early  Romans. 

This  simplicity  did  not  endure.  With  the  growth 
of  power — especially  after  the  fall  of  Carthage 
and  Corinth — there  was  a  great  inrush  of  foreign 
customs.  The  Greek  gods  came  with  the  Greek 
culture,  and  a  change  took  place  in  Roman  reli- 
gion for  the  worse.  Altered  conditions  in  the  state 
co-operated  to  bring  about  deterioration  of  morals. 
The  old  distinction  of  patrician  and  plebeian  was 
supplanted  by  that  of  rich  and  poor.  The  wars 
destroyed  agricultural  industry,  and  threw  the  land 
into  the  hands  of  wealthy  men,  who  farmed  their 
estates  by  gangs  of  slaves.  Slavery  became  the  basis 
of  the  social  structure,  and  labour  was  despised  as 
beneath  the  dignity  of  citizens.  The  populace  were 
supported  by  doles  from  the  state,  or  largesses  from 
nobles,  and  lived  only  to  be  fed  and  amused  ("bread 
and  games,"  Juvenal).  The  sanguinary  spectacles  of 
the  amphitheatre  fostered  in  them  a  cruel  and  blood- 
thirsty spirit.  Marriage  lost  its  sacredness,  and  licen- 
tiousness flooded  society. 

What  all  this  meant  for  religion  it  is  not  difficult  to 
foresee.  The  chief  features,  in  a  religious  respect, 
are:  (1)  The  wide  prevalence  of  scepticism,  or  total 


10  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

unbelief  among  the  cultured  or  educated  classes ;  and 
(2),  the  vast  growth  of  superstition  and  a  great  influx 
of  foreign  cults  among  the  people  in  general.  The 
cults  chiefly  in  favour  were  the  Oriental,  and  this 
again  shows  that  the  religious  consciousness  had  en- 
tered on  a  deeper  phase.  For,  whatever  the  defects 
of  the  Oriental  religion,  there  was  expressed  in  most 
of  them  a  deeper  feeling  of  the  discord,  the  pain,  the 
mystery  of  life,  and  many  of  their  rites  showed  a  long- 
ing for  redemption. 

Special   importance  attaches  to  the  rise  of  an  en- 
tirely new    cult — the   worship   of   the   emperor.      In 
CiESAR  WORSHIP  the  religion  of  paganism  may  be  said 
to  have  culminated.      The   Roman   people   had  long 
been  familiar  with  the  idea  of  a  Genius  of  the  Republic. 
Now,  when  all  powers  and  offices  were  gathered  up 
in  the  emperor,  he  became  to  ordinary  eyes  an  almost 
godlike  being.     From  this  the  step  was  easy  to  formal 
apotheosis.      The   Senate   took  this  step   when   they 
decreed  divine  honours  to  the  emperors — many  of  them 
the  basest  and  vilest  of  mankind.     Yet  this  worship 
of  the  emperor  took  root,  and,  in  the  provinces  especi- 
ally, gained  amazing  popularity.      A  special  class  of 
guilds  [Augustales)  sprang  up  to  attend  to  it.      The 
peculiarity   of  it   was   that   it  was    the    one   worship 
which  was  common  to  the  whole  empire.     In  it  also 
the   Roman   Empire  expressed  its  inmost  spirit.     As 
the  deification  of  brute  power,  it  was  the  strongest 
possible  antithesis  to  the  worship  of  the  Christ.     It 

was  THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  BEAST. 

Luxurious,  frivolous,  sceptical  and  corrupt  as  the 
age  was,  however,  there  is  not  to  be  overlooked  in  it 
the  presence  of  certain  better  elements.  As  in  Greece, 
so  here,  the  preparation  was  not  \vholly  negative. 
Stoicism  and  Platonism  had  received  a  religious  tinge 


JEWISH  AND  GENTILE  PREPARATIONS    11 

(Seneca,  Plutarch),  and  exercised  an  elevating  influence 
on  the  purer  minds.  There  were,  doubtleHs,  numerous 
individual  examples  of  virtue.  The  Collegia  (organ- 
ised associations  or  guilds)  of  the  empire,  and  the 
MYSTERIES  havc  intimate  and  curious  relations  with 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  first  centuries.  Dr. 
Hatch  would  explain  from  the  former  several  of  the 
offices  of  the  early  Church.  ^  The  mysteries  of  Mithras, 
Professor  Harnack  says,  were  in  the  third  century  the 
strongest  rival  of  Christianity.-  The  burial  societies 
were  legal,  and  the  Christians  took  advantage  of  this 
for  their  protection.  When  all  is  said,  the  verdict  of 
history  on  that  old  world  must  be  that  it  was  as 
corrupt  as  it  could  well  be  to  exist  at  all,  and  what 
was  worse,  had  not  within  itself  any  principle  of 
regeneration. 

6.  Christianity  and  Roman  Law. — What  is  some- 
times said  of  the  tolerance  of  the  Romans  requires  to 
be  taken  with  considerable  modification.  The  Romans 
had  laws  enough  against  foreign  rites ;  even  where 
the  practice  of  a  foreign  religion  was  permitted,  this 
permission  did  not  extend  to  Romans.  Christianity, 
therefore,  fell  under  the  ban  of  the  laws  in  a  double 
respect.  It  was  unsanctioned  (religio  illicita),  and 
it  drew  away  Romans  from  the  established  religion. 
Even  with  this  disadvantage,  however,  it  might  have 
escaped,  for  the  authorities  found  it  impracticable 
rigidly  to  enforce  the  laws. 

But  there  were  special  features  about  Christianity 
which,  from  a  Roman  standpoint,  made  tolerance  im- 
possible.     Christianity  was   not   a  national  religion. 

1  Cf.  Hort,  pp.  128-210. 

2  Their  strange  caricatures  of  Christian  rites  wore  a  source 
of  perplexity  to  the  Fathers, 


12  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

The  sentiment  of  antiquity  respected  the  gods  of  other 
nations ;  but  Christianity  appeared  rather  in  the  Hght 
of  a  revolt  against  the  ancient  faith  from  which  it 
sprang,  and  had  no  national  character  of  its  own. 
It  had  no  visible  deity  or  temple,  and  to  the  popular 
mind  seemed  a  species  of  atheism.  Specially,  it  could 
not  fail  to  be  seen  that,  with  its  exclusive  claims,  it 
struck  at  the  very  existence  of  the  Roman  state  re- 
ligion. If  its  precepts  were  admitted,  the  state 
religion  would  be  overthrown.  The  more  earnest  men 
were,  therefore,  to  maintain  or  revive  the  prestige  of 
the  established  system,  the  more  determinedly  must 
they  oppose  this  new  superstition.  The  iiTcconcil- 
ability  of  Christianity  with  the  established  religion 
came  naturally  to  its  sharpest  point  in  the  refusal 
of  Christians  to  offer  at  the  shrine  of  the  emperor. 
This  was  an  act  of  disobedience  in  a  vital  point,  which 
could  not  be  passed  over. 

Add  to  this  the  manner  in  which  Christianity  came 
into  conflict  with  the  laws  prohibiting  secret  and 
nocturnal  gatherings ;  the  powerful  material  interests 
affected  by  its  spread  (c/.  Acts  xix.  24-27) ;  the  odium 
in  which  Christians  were  held  on  account  of  the  crimes 
imputed  to  them  by  their  enemies  ;  the  outbursts  of 
popular  fury  to  which  they  were  opposed  in  times  of 
public  calamity,  and  it  will  readily  be  understood 
how,  even  when  there  was  no  general  persecution, 
they  lived  in  a  constant  state  of  insecurity,  and  how 
the  very  "  name  "  of  Christian  should  be  held  sufficient 
to  condemn  them. 

Points  for  inquiry  and  study. — Compare  Synagogue  and 
Church  (services,  ofl&ces,  etc.)  Compare  Essenism  and  Chris- 
tianity. Give  a  fuller  account  of  Philo,  and  compare  his 
doctrine  with  St.  John's  Prologue.  Show  how  with  Socrates 
and  after  him  moral  thinking  in  Greece  took  an  inward  turn. 


JEWISH  AND  GENTILE  PREPARATIONS    13 

Illustrate  Monotheism  among  Greeks  and  Romans.  Read 
Tertullian's  contrast  of  Christian  meetings  with  heathen 
Collegia  {ApoL,  oh.  39).  Find  out  more  about  the  Mysteries 
and  their  relation  to  the  Church.  Illustrate  the  position  of 
Christians  in  the  Roman  Empire  from  Pliny's  letter  to 
Trajan,  and  the  Apologies  of  Justin  Martyr  and  Tertullian. 

The  following  books  may  be  consulted  on  the  subjects  of 
this  chapter :  Besides  the  Church  Histories  (Neander,  etc.), 
Edersheim's  Jesus  tlie  Messiah;  Bollinger's  Jew  and  Gentile, 
Uhlhorn's  Conflict  of  Christianity ;  Pressens^'s  ^rtcif-n^  World 
and  Christianity ;  Fisher's  Beginnings  of  Christianity ; 
Schiirer's  Jeivish  People,  etc.  ;  Lightfoot  on  •'  Essenes " 
{Commentary  on  Colossians) ;  Freeman's  Chief  Periods  of 
European  History;  Loring  Bruce's  Gesta  Christi  and  The 
Unknown  God;  Schmidt's  Social  Results  of  Early  Christi- 
anity; Hatch's  Organisation  of  Early  Christian  Churches 
and  Infliience  of  Greek  Ideas ;  Ramsay's  Church  in  Roman 
Empire. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  AND  LATER  JEWISH 
CHRISTIANITY. 

Into  the  pagan  world  such  as  we  have  described  it 
Christ's  religion  came  as  the  breath  of  a  new  life. 
"The  time  is  fulfilled,"  said  Jesus,  "and  the  King- 
dom of  God  is  at  hand"  (Mark  i.  15).  In  Christ's 
life,  deeds,  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom, 
death  and  resurrection,  the  moveless  foundations  of 
the  Church  were  laid. 

Christ's  last  injunction  to  His  apostles  was  to  abide 
at  Jerusalem  till  they  should  receive  "  the  promise  of 
the  Father  "  (Luke  xxiv.  49  ;  Acts  i.  4,  5).  In  the 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.)  the 
New  Testament  Church  was  born. 

1.  The  Church  of  the  Apostles.— Obvious  reasons 
compel  a  glance  at  the  phenomena  of  the  Apostolic 
Age.  Three  main  stages  in  the  development  may  be 
distinguished : — 

(1)  The  first  takes  us  to  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen, 
and  may  be  called  the  period  of  unbroken  unity  with 
Jewish  institutions.  The  Church  in  this  stage  was 
composed  wholly  of  Jewish  believers,  and  w^as  presided 
over  by  the  apostles  as  a  body.  The  first  disciples 
stood  in  unbroken  unity  with  temple  and  synagogue 
(Acts    ii.    46 ;    iii.    1).^      Their  specifically  Christian 

^  Much  later  Saul  sought  the  Christians  in  the  synagogues 
(Acts  ix.  2). 

(14) 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  15 

fellowship  expressed  itself  in  domestic  gatheriugs  (ch.  ii. 
46).  Even  the  apostles  did  not  dream  of  parting  with 
their  national  usages  {cf.  Peter's  scruples,  Acts  x.),  but 
probably  thought  of  the  Gentile  mission  to  which  they 
knew  themselves  called  (Matt,  xxviii.  19;  Acts  i.  8; 
ii.  2l,  39),  as  an  incorporation  into  Jewish  privilege. 
How  long  this  naive  stage  lasted  is  uncertain,  but  the 
need  must  early  have  been  felt  for  more  independent 
assemblies.  Tiiis  became  imperative  when,  under  the 
new  impulse  of  love,  the  so-called  "  community  of 
goods  "  was  introduced  (ch.  ii.  44,  45).  It  is  in  connec- 
tion with  the  judgment  on  Ananias  and  Sapjjhira  that 
the  word  "  Church  "  first  occurs  (ch.  v.  11).^  Even  yet 
we  must  beware  of  attributing  to  these  gatherings  of 
the  disciples  too  formal  an  organisation.  Everything 
is  as  yet  fluent,  growing,  unconstrained.  The  first 
mention  of  "elders"  is  in  Acts  xi.  30,  and,  doubtless, 
the  analogy  followed  there  was  that  of  the  Jewish 
synagogue. 

The  oldest  definite  step  in  organisation  we  read  of 
was  the  appointment  of  The  Seven  (Acts  vi.),  called 
for  by  the  disputes  between  Hebrews  and  Hellenists 
(Greek-speaking  Jews)  about  the  daily  distribution. 
It  is  customary  to  see  in  these  "  Seven  "  the  proto- 
types of  the  "  deacons  " ;  but  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  the  design  went  farther  than  to  meet  a  parti- 
cular emergency.  Naturally,  as  believers  multiplied, 
similar  associations  tended  to  spring  up  in  the  sur- 
rounding districts  (Acts  ix.  31  ;  Gal.  i.  22).  These 
appear  to  have  stood  in  a  certain  relation  of  depend- 
ence on  the  mother  Church  in  Jerusalem.'^     But  the 

1  Not  in  Acts  ii.  47  ;  cf.  R.V. 

"^  Even  when  so  important  a  Church  as  that  of  Antioch  was 
formed,  it  seemed  the  natural  thing  to  send  delegates  to  it 
from  Jerusalem  to  look  after  its  welfare  (Acts  xi.  22). 


16  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

distinction  of  Hellenist  and  Hebrew  had  a  further 
influence,  and  one  of  greater  importance.  It  lay  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  Hellenistic  Jews  were 
men  of  a  freer,  more  cosmopolitan  spirit  than  their 
Hebrew  compatriots.  From  their  circle  came  Stephen, 
the  forerunner  of  St.  Paul.  It  seems  plain  that  Stephen 
had  clearly  grasped  the  principle  that  salvation  by  faith, 
and  the  spirituality  and  inwardness  of  Christ's  religion 
generally,  rendered  obsolete  the  prescriptions  of  the  law 
(Acts  vi.  13,  14).  His  address  in  his  defence  turns 
throughout  on  this  idea,  that  God's  revelations  are 
not  tied  to  times  and  places,  and  that  His  worship  is 
not  necessarily  bound  up  with  these  (ch.  vii.).  It 
was  this  that  led  to  his  martyrdom  for  blasphemy. 
It  did  not  occur  to  anyone  that  he  had  left  a  suc- 
cessor in  the  young  man  at  whose  feet  his  clothes 
were  laid,  and  who  was  the  most  clamorous  for  his 
destruction. 

(2)  The  second  stage  extends  from  the  martyrdom 
of  Stephen  to  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  and  may  be 
termed  the  period  of  the  founding  op  the  Gentile 
Churches.  The  birth  of  Gentile  Christianity  was  not 
an  event  which  took  place  all  at  once,  or  without  being 
prepared  for  within  the  Church  itself.  The  first 
barrier  broken  down  was  that  between  Jews  and 
Samaritans  (Acts  viii.  5-8)  ;  a  second  was  broken 
down  when  Philip  sought  and  baptised  the  Ethiopian 
eunuch  (ch.  viii.  2640)  ;  a  third  and  greater  one  was 
removed  when  Peter  was  sent  to  Cornelius  (ch.  x.) ; 
the  last  was  broken  down  when  some  men  of  Cyprus 
and  Cyrene,  likewise  Hellenes,  boldly  struck  into  a 
new  line,  and  began  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
Greeks  at  Antioch  (ch.  xi.  20,  21).  This  was  quite 
A  new  departure.  Previously,  it  is  said,  the  Word  had 
been  preached  to  none  but  Jews  only  (ver.  19)  ;  now 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  17 

it  was  preached  to  Gentiles,  and  a  purely  Gentile 
Church  was  founded.  The  special  thing  to  notice  is 
how  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  received  the  tidings  of 
these  advances.  It  did  so  in  a  way  worthy  of  it.  It 
saw  itself  being  led  into  new  paths,  but  it  was  not 
disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision  (cf.  viii.  14;  xi. 
18,  22,  23). 

Meanwhile  God  had  been  preparing  His  own  instru- 
ment for  this  work.  The  conversion  of  Saul  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  history  ;  one  also 
the  most  far-reaching  in  its  effects.  "  Pharisaism  ht\s 
fulfilled  its  historical  mission  when  it  has  brought 
forth  this  man"  (Harnack).  It  is  not  an  unlikely 
conjecture  that  the  reason  why  Saul  opposed  the 
Christians  with  so  unrelenting  a  hostility  was  that, 
with  his  powerful,  consistent  intellect,  he  saw  more 
clearly  than  others  that  the  logical  consequence  of 
this  system  was  the  utter  overthrow  of  Judaism.^ 
When,  therefore,  it  pleased  God  to  reveal  His  Son  in 
him  (Gal.  i.  15),  this  was  to  him  one  and  the  same 
thing  as  the  call  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
Gentiles.  A  prolonged  retirement  to  Arabia  was 
followed  by  a  fifteen  days'  visit  to  St.  Peter  at 
Jerusalem ;  the  next  few  years  were  spent  in  his 
native  district  (Gal.  i.  17-21).  Thence  he  was  brought 
by  Barnabas  to  help  him  at  Antioch,  where  a  power- 
ful Church  had  been  established,  and  the  disciples 
had  received  the  name  by  which  they  have  since 
been  known — "Christians"  (Acts  xi.  26). 

From  this  point  begins  a  new  development.  St. 
Paul  and  Barnabas  are  separated  for  a  mission  to  the 
Gentiles  (ch.  xiii.  2).  We  need  not  follow  the  Apostle 
in  his  MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS.     His  progress  is  marked 

^Thus  Baur. 
2 


18  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

by  light  points,  for  it  was  a  principle  with  hira,  neg- 
lecting outposts,  to  aim  at  the  great  centres.  This 
enables  us  to  trace  him  as  he  goes  along — at  Antioch 
in  Pisidia,  at  Philippi,  at  Thessalonica,  at  Athens,  at 
Corinth,  at  Ephesus — till  finally  his  desire  was  gratified 
in  a  way  he  had  not  looked  for,  and  he  saw  Rome  also 
(Rom.  i.  15 ;  xv.  32).  The  conditions  under  which  these 
Churches  planted  by  St.  Paul  had  their  origin  caused 
them  to  present  certain  peculiarities,  (a)  They  were 
/ree  to  a  greater  extent  than  the  Palestinian  Churches 
from  the  Imv  and  synagogue;  (b)  they  were  mostly 
mixed  Churches — composed  in  varying  proportions  of 
Jews  and  Gentiles  ;  and  (c)  they  were  more  completely 
independent  than  the  Palestinian  and  Syrian  Churches. 
The  latter,  it  was  noted,  stood  in  a  certain  relation  of 
dependence  on  the  mother  Church  at  Jerusalem. 
The  only  bond  of  union  among  the  Pauline  Churches 
was  their  consciousness  of  a  common  faith,  and  the 
personality  of  their  great  apostle,  whose  letters  and 
travels  from  Church  to  Church  kept  them  in  touch 
with  him  and  in  connection  with  one  another. 

(3)  The  third  stage  extends  from  the  Council  of 
Jerusalem  (inclusive)  to  the  end  of  the  apostolic  age, 
and  is  marked  as  the  period  of  the  great  contro- 
versy BETWEEN  Jew  and  Gentile.  The  Church  in 
Jerusalem  appears  to  have  been  considerably  rein- 
forced by  the  more  conservative  section  (Acts  vi.  7 ; 
XV.  5  ;  xxi.  20).  These  had  been  content  to  be  silent 
when  it  was  only  the  case  of  one  individual  (the 
eunuch),  or  one  family  (Cornelius),  or  one  Church 
(Antioch),  directly  under  the  eyes  of  their  own 
delegates.  Now  (close  of  first  missionary  journey), 
the  Gentile  mission  had  been  pushed  far  and  wide, 
and  there  seemed  a  danger  that  their  distinctive 
Jewish  privilege  would  be  altogether  swamped.      A 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  19 

REACTIOXART  PARTY  accordingly  emerged,  whose 
watchword  was  "  Except  ye  be  circumcised,  ye  cannot 
be  saved"  (ch.  xv.  1,  5,  24).  Their  machinations  at 
Antioch  led  to  Paul  and  Barnabas  being  sent  up  to 
the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem  for  a  settlement 
of  this  question,  and  to  the  calling  of  the  Grkat 
Council  of  Acts  xv.  The  chief  points  to  be  noted  are 
the  entire  agreement  of  the  Jerusalem  leaders  with 
Paul  on  the  main  issue  (thus  also  Gal.  ii.),^  and  the 
broad  basis  on  which  the  decision  was  amved  at — 
"  The  apostles  and  elders,  with  the  whole  Church  " 
(ch.  XV.  23). 

The  decision  itself  was  of  the  nature  of  a  compro- 
mise, but  it  left  untouched  a  point  of  great  importance 
for  the  future  peace  of  the  Church.  The  Jews  were 
not  to  insist  on  circumcision ;  the  Gentiles  were  to 
observe  precepts  (vers.  28,  29).  But  it  was  not  settled 
whether  Jews  were  at  liberty  to  dispense  with  the 
customs  of  their  nation.  On  this  point  real  difference 
of  opinion  still  existed.^  St.  Paul  was  probably  the 
only  one  perfectly  clear  in  principle ;  the  majority  of 
the  Jewish  believers  took  the  other  view.  The  differ- 
ence was  one  which  was  bound  to  emerge  in  mixed 
Churches — especially  in  eating.  Hence  the  collision 
OF  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter  at  Antioch  (Gal.  ii.  11-14), 
which  turned  on  this  point.  The  question  of  principle, 
however,  once  raised,  could  only  be  settled  in  one  way 
in  the  interests  of  the  liberty  and  unity  of  the  Church 
(r/.  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  James,  which  lay 
not  the  slightest  stress  on  the  observance  of  the  law 
of  Moses — this  though  both  are  directly  writing  to 
the  Diaspcn-a).  Still,  as  a  matter  of  usage,  the  Jewish 
Christians  continued  to  walk  faithfully  in  the  customs 

^  Some  do  not  identify  these  visits.         ^  Thus  Ritschl. 


20  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

of  their  fathers  (thus  even  St.  Paul,  Acts  xxi.  24 ; 
xxviii.  17).i 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  the  Judaising  party 
which  opposed  St.  Paul  with  so  much  bitterness  in  the 
Churches  did  not  consist  entirely  of  those  who  insisted 
on  circumcision.  This  was  the  nature  of  the  opposi- 
tion in  Galatia  (Gal.  v.  1-4 ;  vi.  13,  14).  But  it  would 
include  also  those  who,  without  insisting  on  the  cir- 
cumcision of  the  Gentiles,  resented  the  abrogation  of 
the  law  for  Jews.  This  was  probably  the  nature  of 
the  opposition  at  Corinth,  where  we  do  not  read  of  any 
attempt  to  raise  the  question  of  circumcision,  but  of 
attacks  on  St.  Paul's  apostleship,  and  the  attempt  to 
form  a  Petrine  in  opposition  to  the  Pauline  party 
(1  Cor.  i.  12  ;  ix.  1).  After  this  the  controversy  seems 
to  have  died  down  (a  last  trace  in  Phil.  iii.  2).  From 
this  time  St.  Paul  had  to  contend  with  mixed  forms 
of  error,  in  which  legality  had  a  place,  but  in  associa- 
tion with  Essenian  and  other  heretical  elements  (c/. 
Colossians).  By  the  time  we  reach  the  Gospel  and 
Epistles  of  St.  John  we  are  moving  in  an  atmosphere 
far  above  these  oppositions,  and  find  all  antitheses 
resolved  in  the  calm  assurance  of  the  possession  of 
"  eternal  life." 

2.  Constitution  and  Worship  of  the  Apostolic 
Cliurches. — Fresh  light  has  been  thrown  on  these 
subjects  b}'-  the  recently  discovered  BidachP. — probably 
a  work  of  the  end  of  the  first  century. ^  With  respect 
to  constitution,  the  chief  gain  in  our  knowledge  is  the 
distinction  we  are  enabled  to  make  between  ordinary 
and  extraordinary  office-bearers. 

1  Gf.  the  description  of  St.  James  (from  Hegesippus)  in 
Eusebius,  Hist.,  ii.,  23. 

2  See  Chap.  iv. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  21 

The  cn-dinary  office-bearers  are  the  elders  (or  bishops) 
and  DEACONS.  The  facts  may  bo  thus  exhibited  :  (1) 
Each  congregation  was  presided  over  by  a  number  of 
elders  or  bishops  (Acts  xi.  30 ;  xiv.  23  ;  Titus  i.  T),  etc.). 
With  these  were  joined  the  deacons,  who  seem  to  have 
served  or  assisted  tlie  elders  in  temporal  matters.  (2) 
Elders  and  bishops  were  identical.  The  names  are  inter- 
changeable (Acts  XX.  17,  28  ;  Phil.  i.  1  ;  1  Tim.  iii.  1, 
8 ;  Titus  i.  5,  7).  There  is  no  reason  for  supposing 
that  the  persons  described  more  generally  in  1  Cor. 
xii.  28;  i  Thess.  v.  12;  Heb.  xiii.  8,  etc.,  are  other 
than  the  elders.  (3)  The  elders  had  spiritual,  and 
not  merely  administrative,  functions.^  They  have 
oversight  of  the  flock,  watch  for  souls,  speak  the 
Word,  pray  with  the  sick,  etc.  (Acts  xx.  28 ;  Heb. 
xiii.  17  ;  1  Pet.  v.  2  ;  James  v.  15).  (4)  As  in  the 
case  of  "the  Seven,"  election  was  popular  (thus  also 
Didache)y  with  subsequent  ordination  (Acts  vi.  5  ;  1 
Tim.  iv.  14;  v.  22;  Titus  i.  5). 

While  this  was  so,  there  was  a  class  of  extramdinary 
office-bearers,  to  whom  the  work  of  teaching  and  ex- 
horting more  especially  belonged.  These  were  the 
APOSTLES  and  evangelists,  prophets  and  teachers 
(Acts  xiii.  1;  1  Cor.  xii.  28;  Eph.  iv.  11).  They 
differed  from  the  others  in  that  their  ministry  was 
itinerant.  The  Didache  gives  minute  directions  re- 
garding the  apostles,  prophets  and  teachers  (ch. 
xi.-xiii.).  Their  support  is  to  be  voluntary.  The 
apostle  is  not  to  tarry  more  than  two  days  in  one 
place.  If  any  asks  for  money,  he  is  a  false  prophet. 
The  prophet  may  settle  in  a  congregation  and  become 

^  This  against  Hatch.  His  conjecture  that  the  designa- 
tion "  bishops  "  in  Gentile  churches  was  suggested  by  the 
guilds  connects  itself  with  his  idea  that  their  functions  were 
mainly  financial  or  administrative. 


22  THE  EAKLY  CHURCH 

what  we  would  call  its  pastor.  If  prophets  or 
teachers  are  absent,  the  bishops  and  deacons  perform 
their  service. 

Besides  this  special  and  general  ministry  in  the 
Church,  there  were  cases  in  which  the  ordering  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Church  was  put  into  the  hands  of 
specially  appointed  apostolic  delegates  —  men  like 
Timothy  and  Titus.  Their  position  is  probably  to  be 
looked  on  as  deputed  and  exceptional,  and  adapted  to 
the  circumstances  of  a  transition  period  (c/.  1  Tim. 
i.  3 ;  Titus  i.  5). 

The  above  was  the  general  constitution  of  the 
Gentile  churches,  and  the  Jewish  churches  in  the  main 
agreed  with  it.  In  one  important  respect,  however, 
a  different  type  was  presented  by  the  Church  at 
Jerusalem.  This  Church,  we  saw,  was  presided  over 
by  the  apostles,  and  took  an  oversight  of  the  Jewish 
churches  in  its  neighbourhood.  Afterwards  its  presi- 
dency was  in  the  hands  of  Jambs,  the  Lord's  brother, 
who,  from  his  personal  pre-eminence  and  relationship 
to  Christ,  held  practically  apostolic  rank.  From  this 
circumstance  the  idea  seems  to  have  grown  up  that 
the  head  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  should  be  a  blood 
relation  of  Christ;  and,  after  St.  James's  martyrdom 
(c,  A.D.  70),  a  cousin  of  the  Lord,  Symeon,  was  elected. ^ 
He  held  this  position  till  his  own  martyrdom  {c.  a.d. 
107).  Soon  after,  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  the  Jewish 
Church  in  Jerusalem  came  to  an  end. 

In  its  worship,  as  in  its  constitution,  the  Church  was 
modelled  partly  on  the  usage  of  the  synagogue.  In 
Jewish-Christian,  and  even  wider  circles,  the  name 
"  synagogues  "  was  long  in  use  for  Christian  assemblies 
(c/.  James  ii.  2).     What  was  new  came  from  the  freer 

1  Hegesippus  in  Eusebius,  Hist.,  iii.,  11. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  23 

spirit  which  Christianity  introduced,  and  from  the 
entrance  of  specific  Christian  ideas  and  observances. 
Chief  among  these  new  elements  may  be  noted  :  (1) 
The  new  day  of  Christian  service — the  first  day  of 
the  week,  or  Lord's  Day  (Acts  xx.  7  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  2  ; 
Rev.  i.  10  :  thus  also  Didache).  (2)  The  exercise  of 
the  spiritual  gifts — tongues,  prophesyings,  etc.  (1  Cor. 
xii.).  (3)  The  singing  of  Christian  hymns  (c/.  Eph. 
V.  19).  Fragments  of  these  hymns  are  believed  to  be 
found  in  such  passages  as  Eph.  v.  14  ;  1  Tim.  iii.  16. 
(4)  The  reading  of  apostolic  letters  (Col.  iv.  16; 
1  Thess.  v.  27).  (5)  The  observance  of  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper  (breaking  of  bread,  eucharist). 

Baptism,  after  Oriental  custom,  was  administered 
generally,  though  not  exclusively,  by  immersion. 
Another  method  was  pouring,  for  which  directions  are 
given  in  the  Didarke  (vii.).^  {Cf.  the  baptism  of  the 
Spirit  by  outpouring,  Acts  ii.  33  ;  x.  46,  etc.).  The 
rite  was  administered  on  profession  of  faith — hence 
primarily  to  adults — and  was  frequently  accompanied 
with  spiritual  gifts  {e.g.,  Acts  xix.  16).  Opinions 
differ  as  to  the  baptism  of  the  children  of  believers. 
A  class  of  cases  may  indicate  that  the  Jewish  analogy 
was  followed  of  receiving  the  household  with  its  head 
(Acts  xvi.  15,  33  ;   1  Cor.  i.  16;  cf.  1  Cor.  vii.  14). 

The  crowning  act  of  the  New  Testament  religious 
service  was  the  Lord's  Supper,  with  which  in  this  age 
was  always  combined  the  Agape,  or  *'  love-feast."  The 
two  formed,  indeed,  one  sacred  meal,  in  the  course  of 
which,  after  blessing,  bread  was  broken  and  wine 
drunk  after  the  example  of  the  Lord  (1  Cor.  xi.  23- 
34).  Different  types  of  observance  may,  however, 
be  distinguished.      In  Gentile   churches    the  service 

^  Illustrated  also  iu  Catacomb  pictures. 


24  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

tended  to  be  adapted  to  the  freer  model  of  the  Greek 
feast  (hence  the  abuses  at  Corinth,  1  Cor.  xi.) ;  m 
Jewish  churches  there  was  closer  adherence  to  the 
ritual  of  the  Passover.  The  eucharistic  prayers  in  the 
Didache  are  on  the  latter  model  (chs.  ix.-x.).  The 
directions  do  not  include  the  words  of  institution ; 
but  these  may  be  presumed  to  be  presupposed. 

3.  Transition  to  later  Jewish  Christianity. — 
We  have  found  two  parties  in  Jewish  Christianity — one 
our  extreme  Pharisaic  party,  who  not  only  observed 
the  law  themselves,  but  would  have  imposed  it  on  the 
Gentiles  ;  the  other,  more  tolerant  and  liberal,  and 
friendly  to  the  mission  of  St.  Paul.  A  series  of  events 
now  took  place  which  had  the  twofold  effect  of  (1) 
finally  separating  the  Jewish  Christian  Church  from 
the  older  Judaism  ;  (2)  finally  separating  the  two 
Jewish  parties — the  stricter  and  more  tolerant — from 
each  other.     Such  events  were  : — 

(1)  The  catastrophe  of  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem (a.d.  70).  Warned,  it  is  said,  by  a  divine 
revelation  (more  probably  mindful  of  the  predictions 
of  the  Lord),  the  Christians  had  withdrawn  to  Pella, 
in  the  Decapolis,  and  there  beheld  the  storm  sweep 
over  their  doomed  nation  which  wrought  its  over- 
throw. So  awful  a  providence  could  not  but  lead 
them  to  ponder  anew  their  relation  to  a  system  which 
had  thus  perished,  as  it  were,  under  the  visible  curse 
of  God. 

(2)  The  REVIVAL  OF  Rabbinism,  and  increasing 
hostility  of  the  Jews.  The  political  fall,  far  from 
destroying  Rabbinism,  became  the  occasion  of  a  great 
increase  in  its  power  (new  centre  at  Jamnia,  schools 
opened,  court  of  justice  established,  etc).  This  stiffen- 
ing and  concentration  of  Judaism  was  accompanied 
by   a  bitterly   intensified   hostility  to  the  Christians 


THE  APOSTOLIC  A(;K  25 

(Minim),  who,  repelled,  cursed,  persecuted  by  their 
brethren  according  to  the  Hesh,  were  naturally  in- 
fluenced to  ally  themselves  more  closely  with  (ientile 
believers. 

(3)  Matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis  by  the  great 
REBELLION  UNDEii  Rarcocuba  ("  Sou  of  a  Star"),  in 
the  reign  of  Hadrian  (a.d.  132),  when  the  refusal  of 
Christians  to  enlist  under  the  banner  of  the  false 
Messiah  exposed  them  to  the  worst  cruelties.  The 
revolt  was  followed  by  the  erection  on  the  site  of 
Jerusalem  (a.d.  135)  of  a  new  heathen  city,  jElia 
Capitolina,  from  which  by  express  decree  all  circiim- 
cised  persons  were  excluded.  The  old  Jerusalem 
Church  was  thus  finally  dispossessed,  and  a  (ientile 
Church  took  its  place,  which  served  itself  heir  to  its 
traditions  and  prestige. 

4.  Nazarenes  and  Ebionites. — The  same  causes 
which  led  to  the  separation  of  Jewish  Christianity 
from  Judaism  proper  led  also  to  the  separation  of  its 
two  sections  from  each  other.  It  is  evident  that  the 
narrower  of  these  sections,  the  old  opponents  of  St. 
Paul,  had  never  really  grasped  the  essential  nature 
of  Christianity,  and  were  bound  to  become  more  re- 
actionary as  time  went  on.  Even  the  more  liberal 
section,  who  recognised  the  legitimacy  of  the  (ientile 
mission,  were  necessarily  hindered  by  their  environ- 
ment from  attaining  any  large  and  worthy  conception 
of  the  religion  they  professed ;  and,  cut  off  from  the 
great  developing  body  of  Gentile  Christianity,  tended 
likewise  to  become  a  historical  anachronism.  This  is 
what  actually  happened.  Justin  Martyr  {c.  a.d.  150) 
describes  two  kinds  of  Jewish  Christians,  one  of  whom 
did  not  \vish,  while  the  other  did,  to  impose  the  law 
upon  the  Gentiles.  The  latter  he  already  treats  as 
heretical.      Jerome  (beginning  of  fifth  century)  knows 


26  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

of  two  classes  distinguished  by  like  peculiarities, 
whom  he  names  respectively  Nazarenes  and  Ebionites. 
Supplementing  his  statements  by  those  of  others,  we 
gain  the  following  points : — 

The  Nazarenes  (oldest  Jewish  name  for  Christians, 
Acts  xxiv.  5)  were  a  sect  small  in  numbers.  Their 
chief  seats  were  in  Syria,  about  Pella,  in  Bashan,  etc., 
where  they  lived  among  the  Jews  quite  apart  from  the 
Gentile  community.  They  held  themselves,  as  Jews, 
under  obligation  to  observe  the  law,  but  did  not 
extend  this  obligation  to  the  Gentiles,  and  recognised 
the  mission  of  St.  Paul.  They  used  an  Aramaic 
Gospel  called  the  Goapel  of  the  Hehrew8,  corresponding, 
with  considerable  changes  and  interpolations,  to  our 
Gospel  of  Matthew.  They  regarded  Jesus  as  born  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  and  in  a  special  way  filled  with  the 
Divine  Spirit,  who  came  upon  Him  at  His  baptism. 
The  Ebionites  ("  poor"),  on  the  contrary,  held  the  law 
to  be  binding  on  all,  and  refused  to  have  any  fel- 
lowship with  uncircumcised  Gentiles.  They  bitterly 
calumniated  St.  Paul.  Jesus  they  regarded  as  a  mere 
man,  chosen  to  be  the  Messiah  for  His  legal  piety. 
Their  version  of  the  Gospel  omitted  the  story  of  the 
supernatural  birth.  The  identity  of  the  two  parties 
with  those  formerly  described  seems  as  clear  as  it  can 
be,  and  is  not  set  aside  by  the  fact  that  other  Fathers 
(e.(/.,  Trenseus,  Origen,  Eusebius),  to  whom  the  Nazar- 
enes were  not  well  known, ^  group  all  under  the  common 
designation  of  Ebionites,  attributing  to  them  the  views 
of  the  law  proper  only  to  the  narrower  section,  while 
aware  of  the  distinction  in  their  views  of  Christ. 
Neither  party  had  a  future.     The  Ebionites  were  still 

^  Epiphauius  and  Jerome  had  first-hand  knowledge  of  them. 
Augustine,  like  Jerome,  looks  kindly  on  the  Nazarenes. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  27 

numerous  in  the  fourth  century,  but,  as  a  sect  formally 
rejected,  seem  to  have  melted  away  in  the  first  half 
of  the  fifth  century.  The  Nazarenes  are  not  hoard  of 
after  tlie  time  of  Jerome. 

5.  Essenian  Ebionitism— the  "  Clementines." 
— The  Ebionites  above  described  are  of  the  ordinary 
Pharisaic  type.  But  Epiphanius  (end  of  fourth  century) 
is  o\u'  authority  for  another  type  of  Ebionitism,  whose 
peculiarities  are  best  explained  by  supposing  a  fusion, 
some  time  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  of  Jewish  Chris- 
tianity with  Essenism.i 

An  interesting  monument  of  this  party  appears  to 
remain  in  the  so-called  Clementine  writings  [Jie- 
cognitions  and  Homilies),  originating  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  second  century  (possibly  in  the  beginning 
of  the  third). ^  The  titles  do  not  designate  distinct 
works,  but  denote  divergent  recensions  or  forms 
of  the  same  work,  which  again  embody  older  docu- 
ments. In  character  the  Clementines  are  a  story  or 
romance — an  early  instance  of  the  religious  novel — 
one,  too,  wrought  out  with  no  slight  literary  art. 
Clement,  to  whom  the  writings  are  attributed,  is 
represented  as  the  son  of  a  noble  Roman,  whose  wife 
and  twin  children  had  become  lost,  and  who  himself 
disappeared  in  seeking  for  them.  The  youthful  Cle- 
ment's mind  is  consumed  with  an  ardent  passion  for 
truth.  He  meets  with  Barnabas  at  Rome  (Horn., 
Alexandria),  and  ultimately  attaches  himself  to  Peter 
at  Ca3sarea.  Peter's  great  mission  appears  to  be  to 
follow  Simon  Magus  (a  supposed  mask  for  St.  Paul) 

^  Thus  Neander,  Ritschl,  etc. 

"^  The  first  to  mention  tliem  is  Origen.  The  Recognitions 
exist  only  in  a  Latin  translation  ;  the  complete  Greek  text  of 
the  Homilies  was  first  published  in  1853.  There  is  also  an 
Epitome  of  the  Homilies. 


28  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

about  from  place  to  place  and  counteract  his  influence. 
Clement  is  instructed  by  Peter,  acts  as  his  amanuensis, 
and  sends  accounts  of  his  discourses,  debates  with  the 
Magus,  etc.,  to  St.  James  at  Jerusalem.  In  the  course 
of  their  travels  reunions  are  effected  of  all  the  members 
of  Clement's  family  (mother,  twin  brothers,  father) 
— hence  Recognitions.  This  romance  is  the  frame- 
work in  which  the  theological  ideas  are  skilfully  set. 
The  Ebionitism  of  the  Homilies  is  the  more  pro- 
nounced, but  the  type  of  doctrine  in  both  forms  is 
similar.  The  key-thought  is  that  of  the  one  "true 
prophet,"  who,  changing  form  and  name,  goes  down 
through  the  ages,  appearing  now  as  Adam,  now  as 
Moses,  now  as  Christ.  Christianity  is  thus  the  re- 
promulgation  of  the  eternal  law.  Over  against  Adam, 
as  the  true  prophet,  stands  Eve  as  the  bringer  in  of 
false  or  "  female "  prophecy,  to  which  is  attributed 
everything  in  the  Old  Testament  false  or  unworthy 
of  God.  Sacrifice  is  rejected  (in  the  Recognitions 
viewed  as  a  provisional  expedient ;  in  the  Homilies 
as  a  work  of  false  prophecy).  A  remarkable  feature 
in  these  works  is  that  the  point  of  circumcision  is  con- 
ceded (only  baptism),  and  the  Gentile  mission  itself  is 
taken  over  from  St.  Paul,  and  claimed  for  St.  Peter. 
The  ecclesiastical  system  is  that  of  second  century 
episcopacy.  In  these  circles  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
observed  with  water  (Epiphanius). 

Intimately  connected  with  the  Ebionites  of  the 
Clementines  were  the  Elkesaites,  who  take  their 
name  from  a  supposed  leader,  Elkesai,  in  the  reign 
of  Trajan.  It  has  been  plausibly  conjectured,  however, 
that  "Elkesai"  ("hidden  power")  is  rather  the  name 
of   a  revelation  hooh}  with  which  this  sect  is  always 

^  It  was  actively  circulated  in  the  third  century. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  29 

associated.  This  book,  of  wliose  orip;in  mythical 
accounts  are  given,  aimed  at  an  amelioration  of  discip- 
line by  teaching  a  second  forgiveness  of  sins  through 
baptism.  Unlike  the  Clementines,  it  insisted  on 
circumcision.  The  whole  movement  appears  to  show 
a  bold  attempt  to  popularise  a  type  of  Ebionitism 
on  Gentile  soil,  and  within  the  Catholic  episcopate. 
It  met,  however,  with  no  permanent  success. 

Points  for  inquiry  ami  study. — Read  relevant  sections  of 
the  Didachc.  On  early  constitution,  read  Lightfoot,  Hort, 
and  Hatch  (see  below).  On  gift  of  tongues,  see  Stanley's 
"Excursus"  in  Commentary  on  Corinthians. 

Books. — Conybeare  and  Howson,  Lewin,  and  Farrar  on  St. 
Paul;  Ramsay's  St.  Paul  the  Traveller ;  Bartlet's  Apostolic 
Age  ;  Lightfoot  on  "  Christian  Ministry  "  (in  Philippians) ; 
Hort's  Christian  Ecclesia ;  Hatch's  Organisation;  Lechler's 
Apostolic  and  Post-Apostolic  Age ;  Gore's  Ministry  of  Christian 
Church. 


CHAPTER  III. 

GENTILE  CHRISTIANITY  :  NERO  TO  DOMITIAN 
(A.D.  64-96.) 

The  indications  in  the  New  Testament  of  a  rapid  pro- 
gress of  the  Gospel  are  filled  out  by  traditions  of  the 
labours  of  the  apostles  after  their  dispersion  fiom 
Jerusalem  (Thomas  in  Parthia,  Thaddaeus  in  Edessa, 
Andrew  in  Scythia,  etc.),  often  untrustworthy,  but  in 
their  main  features  bearing  out  an  early  extensive 
diffusion  of  Christianity  throughout  the  countries  of 
the  known  world.  Corroboration  will  be  found  in  the 
facts  now  to  be  recited. 

1.  First  Contact  with  the  Empire. — The  world 
has  rarely  seen  more  perfect  specimens  of  human 
wickedness  than  in  the  series  of  emperors  who  suc- 
ceeded Augustus.  "The  dark,  unrelenting  Tiberius  " 
(Gibbon)  was  followed  by  the  mad  Caligula,  and  he  by 
the  dull,  sottish  Claudius  (a.d.  41),  to  whose  reign 
belongs  the  first  distinct  notice  we  have  of  the  pre- 
sence of  Christianity  in  the  empire.  The  historian 
Suetonius  relates  that  Claudius  "  banished  from 
Rome  all  Jews,  who  were  continually  making  disturb- 
ances at  the  instigation  of  one  Chrestus."  This  is  the 
banishment  referred  to  in  Acts  xviii.  2  (a.d.  52). 
There  is  little  doubt  that  "Chrestus"  is  a  misspelt 
name  of  "Christ,"  and  that  what  Suetonius  alludes 
to  is  tumults  in  the  Jewish  quarters  which  had  arisen 
through  the  preaching  of  Christ.  This  is  six  years 
(30) 


NERO  TO  DOMITIAN  31 

before  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (a.d.  58),  and  shows 
how  remarkably  Christianity  had  already  spread  in 
the  capital  {cf.  Rom.  i.  8,  and  Tacitus  below).  In 
A.D.  54  Claudius  was  poisoned  to  make  way  for  his 
step-son,  Nero,  in  whom  every  vice  that  tongue  can 
name  seemed  concentrated.  Under  Nero  happened 
what  is  usually  reckoned  as  the  first  persecution, 
though  this  mode  of  enumerating  persecutions  is  in 
mciny  ways  misleading. 

2.  The  Persecution  under  Nero.  —  One  night 
(a.d.  6-4)  Rome  was  discovered  to  have  been  set  on  fire 
by  an  unseen  hand.  The  fire  spread  with  terrible 
rapidity  till  ten  out  of  fourteen  quarters  of  the  city 
were  destroyed.  Popular  suspicion  fastened  this 
crime  on  Nero,  and  he,  to  avert  odium  from  himself, 
turned  it  on  the  Christians.  A  frightful  persecution 
ensued.  An  "immense  multitude"  were  convicted, 
not  so  much,  as  Tacitus  confesses,  on  evidence  of 
having  set  the  city  on  fire,  as  on  account  of  their 
"hatred  of  the  human  race."  To  the  most  exquisite 
tortures  w^ere  added  mockery  and  derision.  Some 
were  covered  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and  thrown 
to  be  devoured  by  dogs  ;  others  were  crucified  ;  num- 
bers were  burnt  alive  ;  and  many,  covered  with  pitch, 
were  lighted  up  when  the  day  declined,  to  serve  as 
torches  during  the  night. ^  The  emperor  lent  his  own 
gardens  for  the  spectacle,  and  heightened  the  gaity  of 
the  occasion  by  games.  The  persecution  was  local, 
but  so  terrible  an  event  occurring  in  the  capital  could 
not  but  have  the  most  serious  consequences  affecting 
the  status  and  treatment  of  Christians  in  the  pro- 
vinces (cf.  1  Peter  and  Apocalypse). 

^  "  At  the  stake  they  shine, 
Who  stand  with  throat  transfixed,  and  smoke  and  burn." 

— Juvenal. 


32  THE  EARLY  CHUKCH 

Apart  from  its  inherent  pathos,  the  persecution 
yields  instructive  light  on  the  rapidly  growing  num- 
bers of  the  new  sect,  and  on  the  estimate  in  which 
they  were  held  by  the  pagans.  When  even  an  intel- 
ligent writer  like  Tacitus  can  speak  of  them  as  uni- 
versally detested,  and  deserved^  punished  for  their 
crimes,  and  of  their  religion  as  a  "  pernicious  super- 
stition," it  is  easy  to  imagine  how  the  ignorant  and 
unreasoning  crowd  must  have  thought  and  felt  regard- 
ing them  !  It  was  not  only  into  the  lower  strata  of 
society,  however,  that  Christianity  had  penetrated. 
We  have  at  least  one  interesting  case  in  this  reign  to 
show  that  it  had  found  its  way  into  higher  circles 
as  well.  Tacitus  relates  that  in  a.d.  57  a  very  dis- 
tinguished lady,  PoMPONiA  Gr.ecina,  wife  of  Aulus 
Plautius,  commander  of  the  army  in  Britain,  was 
accused  before  her  relatives  of  having  adopted  a 
"foreign  superstition,"  which  led  her  into  habits  of 
seclusion  and  melancholy.  This  "  foreign  supersti- 
tion "  has  been  generally  understood  to  be  Christianity  ; 
and  the  discovery  of  a  crypt  in  the  catacombs  con- 
nected with  the  Pomponian  gens  (one  descendant  bear- 
ing this  very  name,  Pomponius  Graecinus),  puts  the 
matter  beyond  doubt. 

3.  Martyrdom  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter.— To 
this  reign  of  Nero,  according  to  the  concurrent  testi- 
mony of  antiquity,  belong  the  martyrdoms  of  the  two 
great  apostles — St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter. 

That  St.  Paul  suffered  at  Rome,  having  carried  the 
Gospel  "to  the  extreme  limit  of  the  west,"  is  attested 
by  Clement  (a.d.  96)  ;  and  is  indeed  evidenced  by  his 
ow^n  latest  epistle  (2  Tim.),  which  anticipates  a  speedy 
death  by  the  sword  of  the  executioner.  Clement's 
language  favours  the  supposition  that  he  did  not  meet 
this  fate  at  the  end  of  the  imprisonment  recorded  in 


NERO  TO  DOMITIAN  33 

Acts  xxviii.  30,  31,  but  had  a  new  period  of  activity, 
journeying  perhaps  as  far  as  Spain  (t/.  Rom.  xv.  28). 
His  second  imprisonment  is  probably  to  be  regarded 
as  an  after  effect  of  the  terrible  persecution  already 
described.  His  trial  seems  to  have  had  two  stages. 
He  himself  writes  pathetically  that  at  his  first  answer 
or  defence  he  could  get  no  one  to  act  as  his  patron 
or  advocate  (2  Tim.  iv.  16) — a  testimony  to  the  general 
terror  Nero's  recent  acts  had  inspired.  He  suffered, 
tradition  says,  on  the  Ostian  Road,  probably  a.d.  67 
or  68. 

To  the  same  period  must  be  assigned  the  martyrdom 
of  his  brother  apostle — St.  Peter.  The  fiction  of  St. 
Peter's  seven  years'  episcopate  at  Antioch  and  twenty- 
five  years'  e[)iscopate  at  Rome  (source  in  the  Clernen- 
tines  ^  and  in  apocryphal  Acts)  may  be  disregarded. 
On  the  other  hand  there  is  a  consensus  of  testi- 
mony to  the  fact  that  St.  Peter  came  to  Rome  in  the 
end  of  his  life,  and  suffered  martyrdom  about  the 
same  time  as  St.  Paul.  This  we  may  accept  as  the 
historical  nucleus  round  which  embellishments  of 
legend  subsequently  gathered.  The  story  of  St.  Peter 
desiring  to  be  crucified  with  his  head  downwards  is 
first  found  in  Origen  (beginning  of  third  century). 
Most  beautiful  of  the  legends  about  St.  Peter  is  the 
well-known  Quo  Va/Iis  story  (fourth  or  fifth  century). 
Peter  was  fleeing  from  the  city  when  he  met  the  Lord 
carrying  His  Cross.  "Lord,"  he  asked,  "whither 
goest  Thou?"  "  1  go  to  Rome,"  said  Jesus,  "  to  be 
crucified  again."  Smitten  with  the  rebuke,  St.  Peter 
turned  back  to  prison  and  to  death. 

4.  The  Empire  till  Domitian.— From  Nero  to  Do- 

^  In  an  epistle  prefixed  to  the  Homilies  Peter  is  represented 
as  transferring  his  episcopate  to  Clement. 

3 


34  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

mitian,  the  next  emperor  who  concerns  us,  is  thirteen 
years  (a.d.  68-81).  In  this  short  interval  no  fewer 
than  five  emperors  were  raised  to  the  purple.  The 
reigns  of  three  of  them  (Galba,  Otho,  Vitellius)  were 
compressed  in  the  brief  space  of  eighteen  months. 
Vespasian  and  Titus  were  good  rulers.  Their  names 
are  connected  with  the  Jewish  war  and  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem.  On  the  death  of  Titus  (a.d.  81),  not 
without  suspicion  of  poison,  the  empire  was  taken  by 
Domitian,  Vespasian's  younger  son.  Historians  say 
he  took  Tiberius  for  his  model.  His  moroseness, 
dissimulation,  cruelty  of  disposition,  are  dwelt  on  by 
all  who  speak  of  him.  Under  him  took  place  what 
it  is  customary  to  call  the  second  persecution. 

6.  The  Persecution  under  Bomitian.— Domitian 
began  as  a  precisian,  but  ere  long  developed  qualities 
which  made  him  what  Pliny  calls  "  the  enemy  of  all 
good  men."  His  rapacity  and  lust  of  blood  found 
a  fitting  prey  in  the  Christians.  Clement  (a.d.  96)  ^ 
speaks  of  "  a  vast  multitude  of  the  elect "  who  suffered 
for  Christ,  and  gives  vivid  glimpses  of  the  indignities 
they  endured.  An  interesting  story  is  told  by  Hege- 
sippus,^  of  TWO  grandchildren  of  Jude,  the  brother 
of  the  Lord,  whom  Domitian  caused  to  be  brought 
before  him,  but  dismissed  as  simpletons  on  finding 
that  they  had  no  money,  and  expected  only  a  celestial 
kingdom.  A  more  remarkable  instance  in  every  way 
is  that  of  Flavius  Clemens,  the  consul,  and  his  wife, 
DoMiTiLLA,  who,  the  heathen  historian  Dion  Cassius 
informs  us,  were  in  this  reign  (a.d.  96)  accused  of 
"  atheism,"  and  "  going  after  the  customs  of  the 
Jews."  These  two  persons  were  of  the  highest  rank. 
Clemens  was  the  cousin,  Domitilla  the  niece,  of  the 

^  See  Chap.  iv.  ^In  Eusebius,  iii.,  20. 


NERO  TO  DOMITIAN  35 

emperor,  and  their  two  sons  hud  been  adopted  by 
Doraitian  as  his  heirs.  Yet  Clemens  was  put  to  death, 
and  his  wife  was  banished  to  an  island  in  the  .Egean. 
The  peculiarity  of  the  charge  implies  Christianity, 
and  this  is  now  confirmed  by  the  discovery  of  the 
cemetery  of  Domitilla  in  the  catacombs.  So  near 
even  in  that  early  age  had  Christianity  come  to  the 
throne  of  the  Ca3sars  !  Dion  further  relates  that 
"  many  others  "  were  put  to  death  or  had  their  goods 
confiscated  on  the  same  charge,  and  instances  Acilius 
Glabrio,  who  had  been  consul  with  Trajan,  and  whose 
family  was  one  of  the  most  illustrious  in  the  state. ^ 
In  1888  the  crypt  of  the  Olabrioncs,  in  the  catacombs, 
was  likewise  laid  bare  by  De  Rossi.  Other  discoveries 
show  that  Christianity  had  penetrated  deeply  into  the 
family  of  the  Flavians. 

6.  Last  Days  of  St.  John. — To  this  reign  also,  if 
the  oldest  witnesses  are  to  be  trusted,  is  to  be  referred 
the  banishment  of  the  apostle  John  to  Patmos,^  and 
the  composition  of  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  in  any  case 
to  the  period  after  Nero  we  must  assign  St.  John's 
removal  to  Asia  Minor,  and  his  labours  and  teaching 
in  Ephesus,  of  which  there  is  ample  attestation. 
Here,  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  friends  and  disciples, 
he  continued  to  an  extreme  old  age,  his  residence 
broken  only  by  the  banishment  above  mentioned. 
Among  those  about  him  in  his  later  days  we  have 
notices  of  the  apostles  Philip  and  Andrew,  of  Polycarp, 
of  a  second  John  (the  "  Elder"),  and  of  other  ** elders," 
who  continued  his  tradition.  Ephesus,  in  short,  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  century,  became  the  new  centre 

^  On  this  family  see  Lanciani  (note  at  end). 

2  Tacitus  tells  us,  with  evident  reference  to  this  reign,  that 
the  islands  were  filled  with  exiles,  and  the  rocks  stained  with 
murder  {Hist.,  i.,  2). 


36  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

of  the  Church,  as  Jerusalem  had  been  earlier,  and 
Rome  was  to  be  later. 

As  St.  John  grew  old,  tradition  relates,  his  friends 
gathered  round  him  and  besought  him  to  write  down 
what  he  had  taught  about  Christ.  Thus  his  gospel 
originated.  There  seem  to  have  been  two  editions  of 
it,  if  -^-e  may  judge  from  the  supplementary  chapter 
xxi.,  itself  attested  by  a  note  from  the  elders  (vers. 
24,  25).  Many  beautiful  stories  remain  to  us  of  St. 
John's  later  days,  how,  for  instance,  when  too  weak 
to  repair  to  church,  he  caused  the  young  men  to 
carry  him  thither,  and,  being  unable  to  speak  much, 
contented  himself  with  saying,  "  Little  children,  love 
one  another "  (Jerome)  ;  or  the  fine  story  told  by 
Clement  of  Alexandria  of  his  reclaiming  the  young 
man  who  had  become  a  robber. ^  St.  John's  life  is 
said  to  have  extended  into  the  reign  of  Trajan,  i.e., 
beyond  a.d.  98.     His  tomb  was  shown  in  Ephesus. 

7.  The  Catacombs. — Reference  has  been  made  to 
the  catacombs.  These  singular  excavations  are  immense 
SUBTERRANEAN  BURIAL-PLACES  of  the  early  Christians, 
in  the  fields  around  Rome,  near  the  great  roads, 
within  a  circle  of  three  miles  from  the  city.  They 
began  in  the  first  century,  probably  as  private  burial 
places  in  the  vineyards  or  gardens  of  the  wealthier 
converts.  The  older  cemeteries,  which  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  catacombs,  can  in  this  way  in  several 
instances  be  distinguished.  These  smaller  burial- 
places,  as  the  excavations  proceeded,  ran  into  each 
other,  and  formed  the  larger  areas. 

The  EXTENT  of  the  catacombs  is  enormous.  They 
consist  of  a  vast  maze  or  labyrinth  of  passages,  often 

1  See  the  story  in  full  in  Godet's  Introduction  to  St  John's 
Gospel. 


NERO  TO  DOMITIAN  37 

in  descending  levels,  intersecting  each  other  in  all 
directions,  with  little  rooms  or  vaults  on  cither  side. 
The  total  length  of  the  passages  is  reckoned  at  some 
587  geographical  miles.  These  corridors  with  the 
accompanying  chambers  are  literally  packed  with 
graves.  The  number  of  the  dead  interred  in  them 
has  been  variously  estimated,  but  can  hardly  be  less 
than  2,000,000.  This  fact  speaks  volumes  for  the 
extent  to  which  Christianity  had  spread  in  and  around 
Rome  during  the  three  centuries  or  thereabouts  that 
the  catacombs  were  in  use.  The  oldest  cemeteries, 
as  those  of  Lucina  (Pomponian),  of  Domitilla,  of 
Priscilla,  etc.,  are  distinguished  by  their  architectural 
elegance  and  classical  style  of  decoration. 

Special  interest  attaches  to  the  art-features,  sym- 
bols and  inscriptions  of  the  catacombs.  They  make 
large  use  of  painting.  The  oldest  tombs  exhibit  this 
art  in  its  highest  perfection.  Afterwards  painting 
becomes  conventional,  and  often,  as  iu  the  pictures 
which  stand  for  Xoah  in  the  Ark,  Jonah  and  the  fish, 
etc.,  sinks  well-nigh  to  the  ridiculous.  The  Biblical 
representations  embrace  scenes  from  both  Old  and 
New  Testaments.  The  figure  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
appears  from  the  very  first,  and  there  are  early  repre- 
sentations of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  The 
SYMBOLS  of  the  catacombs  bear  striking  testimony 
to  the  circle  of  ideas  in  which  the  Christian  mind 
moved,  and  to  the  hopes  by  which  it  was  sustained. 
They  are  of  all  kinds,  from  rudest  scrawls  to  care- 
fully-executed designs.  Most  were  Biblical,  a  few 
pagan  (Orpheus,  etc.).  Favourite  symbols  were  the 
anchor,  the  dove,  the  lamb,  the  ship,  the  palm,  the 
crown.  The  cross  is  not  early.  Chief  among  em- 
blems, on  account  of  its  mystical  significance,  was  the 
fish.     It  finds   its   explanation   in   the   fact   that  the 


38  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

letters  of  the  Greek  name  ichthus  stand  for  the  first 
letters  of  the  names  of  Christ — "  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  Saviour."  Like  the  symbols,  the  inscrip- 
tions are  often  rude  in  style,  but  show  also  how 
differently  death,  and  everything  connected  with  it, 
was  looked  upon  in  Christian,  as  compared  with 
pagan  circles.  The  inscriptions  are  marked  by  a 
rare  simplicity — often  no  more  than  "  in  peace  " — but 
breathe  always  the  spirit  of  hope,  trust,  and  charity 
towards  others.  There  is  about  them  nothing  horrible 
or  revengeful.  The  tools  of  labour  are  portrayed, 
but  not  the  instruments  of  torture.  They  speak  to 
the  power  that  overcomes  death.  The  catacombs 
were  long  lost  to  knowledge  :  were  rediscovered  by 
Bosio  in  1578  ;  and  have  been  carefully  explored  in 
the  present  century  by  De  Rossi  and  his  coadjutors. 

Points  for  inquiry  and  study.  —  Read  Suetonius  and 
Tacitus  on  Nero  and  Domitian  (Tacitus  on  Domitian  in  Life 
of  Agricola).  Test  the  grounds  of  St.  Peter's  alleged  Roman 
Episcopate  {cf.  Barrow's  Supremacy).  Illustrate  from  the 
New  Testament  the  penetration  by  the  Gospel  of  the  upper 
ranks.  Collect  the  legends  of  the  later  life  of  St.  John  (cf. 
Godet).  Read  Browning's  Death  in  the  Desert.  Study  further 
the  testimony  of  the  catacombs. 

Books. — On  the  history,  Merivale's  Romans  under  the 
Empij-e ;  Farrar's  Early  Days  of  Christianity  and  story 
Darkness  and  Dawn;  Lightfoot's  "Later  School  of  St. 
John"  in  Essays;  Lanciani's  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome; 
Northcote  &  Brownlow's  Roma  Sotterranea ;  Withrow's 
Catacombs ;  Qrr's  Neglected  Fa^tcrrs  in  Study  of  the  Early 
Progress  of  Christianity  (deals  with  numerical  progress, 
spread  of  Christianity  in  higher  circles,  etc.). 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS 
(a.d.  9G-117). 

With  the  mild  Xerva,  after  the  murder  of  Domitian 
(a.d.  96),  begins  the  series  of  what  are  sometimes 
known  as  "The  Five  Good  Emperors."  Nerva  was  suc- 
ceeded (a.d.  98)  by  the  frank  and  soldier-like  Trajan, 
under   whom   we   reach,   as  ordinarily   reckoned,   the 

THIRD  PERSECUTIOX. 

1.  The  Persecution  in  Bithynia—Pliny  and 
Trajan. — A  correspondence  preserved  to  us  between 
Pliny  and  the  emperor  serves  as  a  flashlight  to  reveal 
ihe  EXTRAORDINARY  PROGRESS  made  by  Christianity  in 
certain  parts  of  Asia  Minor  in  the  beginning  of  the 
second  century. 

Pliny  at  the  time  (a.d.  112)  was  proconsul  of  the 
extensive  province  of  Bithynia-Pontus.  So  widely 
spread  was  Christianity  in  this  province  that  the 
temples  were  almost  deserted,  the  sacred  rites  had 
long  been  suspended,  and  sacrificial  victims  could 
scarcely  find  purchasers.  Persons  of  all  ages  and 
ranks,  and  of  both  sexes,  had  embraced  the  new 
"  superstition."  Informations  had  been  laid  before  the 
proconsul,  and  numbers  of  Christians  had  already 
been  put  to  death.  The  test  applied  was  to  offer 
wine  and  incense  before  the  images  of  the  gods  and 
emperor,  and  to  revile  Christ.  The  multitude  of  the 
(39) 


40  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

persecutions  involved  Pliny  in  doubt  as  to  how  he 
should  act,  and  he  referred  to  the  emperor  for  direction. 
Trajan's  reply  in  effect  was  that  he  was  not  to  look 
for  cases,  or  receive  anonymous  informations,  but  if 
Christians  were  brought  before  him  and  proved  ob- 
stinate, he  was  to  punish  them.  If  this  letter  of 
Trajan  afforded  Christians  a  measure  of  protection, 
in  other  respects  it  was  a  distinct  worsening  of  their 
position.  Hitherto  Christians  had  fallen  only  under 
the  general  laws  of  the  empire ;  now  they  were,  so  to 
speak,  singled  out  as  a  party  definitely  proscribed. 
Their  illegal  standing  was  directly  affirmed.  Hence- 
forth the  very  name  of  Christian  sufficed  to  condemn 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  Pliny's  letter  is  a  powerful 
VINDICATION  of  the  Christians.  Investigation,  even 
under  torture,  had  demonstrated  that  their  proceed- 
ings were  perfectly  innocent,  and  that  all  that  could 
be  charged  against  them  was  (as  Pliny  judged  of  it) 
an  absurd  and  extravagant  superstition. 

The  letter  throws  valuable  light  also  on  the  worship 
of  the  time.  The  Christians  met,  it  is  told,  on  a 
**  stated  day  "  (Sunday)  before  daybreak,  sang  a  hymn 
to  Christ  as  God,  and  bound  themselves  by  an  oath 
(the  pledge  of  the  Supper  T)  to  abstain  from  every  kind 
of  crime  ;  in  the  evening  they  reassembled  to  eat  a 
harmless  meal  (the  Agape,  now  separated  from  the 
Supper).  This  latter  meeting  they  discontinued  after 
Pliny's  prohibition.  Not  without  reason  has  this  re- 
markable epistle  been  called  "  the  first  apology  for 
Christianity." 

2.  Martyrdom  of  Ignatius — The  Ignatian  Epis- 
tles.— Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  is  the  first  martyr- 
hero  of  whom  we  have  a  definite  account.  The  often- 
told  story  of  his  condemnation  by  Trajan,  his  dialogue 
with  the  emperor,  his  play  upon  the  word  Theophoros 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS     41 

(God-bearer),  etc.,  is  derived  from  old  "Acts,"  and  is 
imaginary.  All  we  really  know  of  the  martyr  is  drawn 
from  his  own  much-controverted  Epistles.  The  Middle 
Ages  were  familiar  with  an  enlarged  and  interpolated 
edition  of  twelve  epistles.  In  1G44  Ussher  brought 
to  light  a  shorter  Latin  edition  of  seven  epistles,  and 
the  Greek  text  of  these  was  discovered  soon  after  (six 
by  Vossius).  This  corresponds  with  the  number  known 
to  Eusebius.  In  1845  a  yet  shorter  Syriac  edition  of 
three  epistles,  much  abbreviated,  was  discovered  by 
Cureton  ;  but  opinion  has  now  fairly  well  settled  down 
in  favour  of  the  seven  Vossian  epistles  as  the  genuine 
Ignatius.  From  these  we  glean  that  Ignatius  was 
tried  and  condemned  at  Antioch  (c.  a.d.  110),  not  by 
the  emperor  but  by  the  governor,  and  was  sent  across 
Asia  Minor  under  the  care  of  ten  guards  ("  leopards," 
he  calls  them)  to  Rome,  to  be  thrown  to  wild  beasts. 
The  road  to  Smyrna,  where  a  halt  was  made,  divides 
into  two,  a  northern  and  a  southern.  The  martyr  was 
taken  by  the  upper  route,  but  the  Churches  along  the 
lower  route  were  asked  to  send  delegates  to  meet  him 
at  that  city.  The  Church  of  Smyrna  at  the  time  was 
presided  over  by  the  holy  Poly  carp. 

This  brings  us  to  the  origin  of  the  epistles.  Before 
leaving,  Ignatius  wrote  letters  to  the  Churches  along 
the  lower  road  (Ephesians,  Magnesians,  'frallians) ; 
one  also  to  the  Romans,  breathing  an  ardent  de- 
sire for  martyrdom.  The  remaining  three  letters 
(Philadelphianfi,  Sinyrnceans,  and  a  personal  one  to 
Polycurp)  were  written  from  Troas,  the  next  impor- 
tant halting-place.  He  passes  thence  to  Philippi, 
and  this  is  the  last  glimpse  we  get  of  him.  The  call 
at  Philippi,  however,  was  the  occasion  of  obtaining  for 
us  another  valuable  relic  of  the  period  in  the  Epistle 
of  Polycarp  (see  below),  to  whom  the  Philippians  had 


42  THE  EAKLY  CHURCH 

written,  asking  for  copies  of  the  martyr's  letters.^  In 
due  time  Ignatius  would  arrive  at  Rome,  would  be 
delivered  into  the  proper  custody,  then  when  the 
fete-day  came  would  be  led  into  the  blood-stained 
arena,  to  meet  his  death  at  the  jaws  of  the  beasts, 
amidst  the  roar  of  thousands  of  delighted  spectators. 
His  epistles  are  his  legacy — and  his  photograph.  Of 
warm  Syrian  temperament,  eager  and  impetuous,  a 
born  "  impeller  of  men,"  yet  consumed  with  a  pas- 
sionate devotion  to  Christ,  which  made  him  not  count 
his  life  dear  to  him  if,  at  any  cost,  he  could  "  attain" 
to  union  with  His  Lord,  he  is  to  all  ages  the  typical 
"Martyr." 

3.  The  Literature  of  the  Period— The  "  Apos- 
tolic Fathers." — The  name  "  Apostolic  Fathers  "  is 
given  to  a  number  of  writings  whose  authors  were 
believed  to  be,  in  the  strict  sense,  apostolic  men,  i.e., 
either  contemporaries  {e.g.,  Clement,  Barnabas,  Hermas) 
or  disciples  (Polycarp,  Ignatius)  of  the  apostles.  This 
use  of  the  designation  is  now  abandoned.  No  one 
pretends  to  find  in  each  of  the  authors  of  these 
writings  direct  personal  relationship  with  the  apostles. 
In  another  respect,  however,  these  writings  are  fitly 
grouped  together.  They  all  emanate  from  the  sub- 
apostolic  age,  and  represent  the  thought  and  feeling 
of  a  period  in  regard  to  which  they  are  nearly  the 
only  Christian  monuments  we  possess.  Incomparably 
inferior  to  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  (a  fact 
which  the  authors  themselves  w^ere  fully  aware  of),  they 
have  yet  many  beauties  and  a  distinct  interest. 
Leaves  and  scraps  of  a  lost  literature — for  such  they 
really  are — they  are  far  from  lacking  in  variety  of 
subject  and  style. 

1  To  this  is  probably  due  the  collection  of  these  letters. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS    43 

At  the  head  of  the  list  stands  the  EnaxLE  of 
Clement  to  the  Corinthians  (a.d.  96).^  The  author, 
formerly,  but  mistakenly,  identified  with  the  Clement 
of  Phil.  iv.  3,  is  the  same  who  appears  in  the  early 
lists  as  the  third  of  the  Roman  bishops  (Linus  and 
Anacletus  being  the  first  and  second),  whose  fabulous 
history  is  given  in  the  Clementines.'^  The  occasion 
was  a  revolt  of  the  Corinthian  Church  against  certain 
of  its  elders,  which  had  issued  in  their  forcible  expid- 
sion  from  office.  Clement  writes  in  name  of  the 
Roman  Church  to  urge  concord  and  submission  to 
authority.  The  tone  is  one  of  "  sweet  reasonableness," 
yet  in  parts  there  is  a  note  of  imperiousness,  which  Dr. 
Lightfoot  not  unfairly  regards  as  prophetic  of  future 
claims  to  domination.  The  epistle  is  an  early  witness 
to  St.  Paul's  (first)  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  in  which 
the  apostle  also  dissuades  from  contentions.  Its  closing 
chapters  (59,  60)  are  a  prayer  of  a  distinctly  liturgical 
character.  The  so-called  second  epistle  of  Clement 
is  really  an  ancient  homily  or  sermon — the  first  of 
the  kind  we  possess.^  Its  date  may  be  about  a.d. 
130-40.  It  is  a  simple  edifying  production,  with 
here  and  there  a  touch  of  ultra-spiritualising.  A 
peculiarity  in  it  is  the  quotation  of  several  sayings 
of  our  Lord  from  an  apocryphal  source  "*  (chs.  4,  5, 
12). 

^  The  dates  are  approximate  only.  The  complete  Greek 
text  of  Clement,  and  of  the  so-called  second  Clement,  was 
discovered  by  Bryennios  at  Constantinople  (1873)  in  the  same 
volume  from  which  the  Didache  was  afterwards  published 
(1883). 

2  Some  scholars  would  identify  him  with  Flavins  Clemens, 
but  on  insufficient  grounds. 

^  It  seems  to  be  a  7-ead  exhortation. 

•*  Possibly  the  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians,  see  Chap.  vi. 


44  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

A  third  writing,  the  so-called  Epistle  of  Barnabas, 
derives  its  name  from  the  belief  that  it  was  the  pro- 
duction of  the  companion  of  St.  Paul.  Internal 
evidence  entirely  negatives  this  supposition.  The 
epistle  was  written  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
(to  which  event  it  alludes),  and  bears  a  strongly 
anti-Judaic  character.  Yet  it  is  of  very  early  date 
(a.d.  70-100).  Its  literary  peculiarities  suggest  that  it 
emanated  from  Alexandria.  It  is  marked  by  excessive 
fondness  for  allegorising,  and  by  a  far-fetched,  fanciful 
style  of  treatment  generally.  It  aims  at  imparting 
a  higher  "knowledge"  {gnosis)  in  the  mystical  inter- 
pretation of  types  {e.g.,  Abraham's  318  servants,  oh. 
9  ;  clean  and  unclean  beasts,  ch.  10.).  Both  Barnabas 
and,  in  a  slighter  degree,  Hernias  (below)  incorporate 
matter  found  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  Didache 
— thus  raising  an  interesting  literary  problem. 

The  Shepherd  of  Hermas  is  our  oldest  allegory. 
It  has  been  fitly  called  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  of  the 
early  Church.  It  was  held  in  the  highest  repute 
in  the  Church;  is  spoken  of  even  as  "scripture" 
(Irenseus,  Origen).  The  author  was  at  one  time 
identified  with  the  Hermas  of  Romans,  xvi.  14;  but 
this  is  now  abandoned.  An  early  notice  makes  him 
the  brother  of  Pius  I.,  Bishop  of  Rome  (a.d.  140-155). 
He  speaks  of  himself,  however,  as  a  contemporary 
of  Clement  of  Rome  (ch.  4),  and  the  simplicity  of 
the  Church  order  in  the  book  agrees  with  this  earlier 
date  (c.  A.D.  100).  Hermas,  according  to  his  own 
account,  was  the  slave  of  a  Roman  lady,  named 
Rhoda,  who  set  him  free  and  showed  him  many  kind- 
nesses. His  book  consists  of  three  parts — Visions, 
Mandates,  and  Similitudes.  The  chief  figure  in  the 
Visions  is  the  Church,  represented  by  a  venerable 
lady,  who  appears  younger  in  each  new  vision.      In 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS     45 

the  last  Vision  the  Saviour  appears  as  a  Shepherd 
(hence  the  name),  and  bids  him  write  down  the 
commandments  and  parables  He  would  give  him. 
The  Mandates  show  acquaintance  with  the  Didache. 
The  Similitudes  remind  one  of  Bunyan's  Interpreter's 
House.  They  contain  ten  parables,  and  give  their 
interpretations. 

The  Epistles  of  Ignatius  (a.d.  110)  have  already 
been  described.  Their  chief  interest  is  in  their  bear- 
ings on  the  origin  of  Episcopacy  (see  below).  Allusion 
has  also  been  made  to  the  origin  of  the  Epistle  of 
PoLYCARP  to  the  Philippians  (a.d.  110),  a  beautiful 
letter,  remarkable  in  a  critical  respect  for  the  use  it 
makes  of  1  Peter  and  1  John,  and  for  the  authen- 
tication it  gives  to  St.  Paul's  epistle  to  the  same 
Church.  One  of  the  finest  of  all  the  post-apostolic 
writings  is  the  Epistle  to  Diogxetus,  which,  though 
it  really  belongs  to  the  next  period  (c.  a.d.  150), 
is  best  taken  here.  It  found  its  way  into  our  list 
from  the  belief  that  its  author  was  a  disciple  of  the 
apostles ;  then  was  long  attributed  to  Justin  Martyr. 
The  Diognetus  to  whom  it  is  addressed  may  not 
improbably  have  been  the  tutor  of  Marcus  Aurelius  of 
that  name.  It  combats  idolatry,  defends  theism,  and 
gives  a  strong  and  clear  presentation  of  evangelical 
truths.  One  thought  dwelt  on  is  the  cosmopolitan 
character  of  Christianity.  "  What  the  soul  is  in  the 
body,  that  Christians  are  in  the  world." 

The  **  Didache,"  or  "Teaching  of  the  Apostles" 
(one  of  the  most  valuable  "finds  "  of  recent  years)  has 
been  before  us  in  an  earlier  connection.  It  is  in  part 
a  book  of  moral  instruction,  in  part  our  oldest  work 
on  Church  order  (baptism,  eucharist,  offices).  The 
literary  relations  with  Barnabas  and  Hermas  can  best 
be  explained  by  supposing  that  both  the  Didache  and 


46  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Barnabas  work  up  material  from  an  older  source — a 
moral  treatise  on  "  the  two  ways  "  ("  there  are  two 
ways,  one  of  life  and  one  of  death,  and  there  is  a 
great  difference  between  the  two  ways  "),  which,  in 
that  case,  must  go  back  to  apostolic  times.  The  book 
in  its  present  form  may  be  dated  about  a.d.  100. 

There  remain  certain  fragmexts  of  Papias,  Bishop 
of  Hierapolis.  Papias  was  a  man  of  weak  judgment, 
but  a  diligent  collector  of  traditions  about  the  sayings 
of  our  Lord.  He  wrote  a  work  in  five  books  entitled 
An  Exposition  of  Oracles  of  the  Lord,  which  is  alleged 
to  have  been  still  in  existence  in  1218  at  Nismes.  It 
may  yet  possibly  be  recovered.  Eusebius  gives  from 
it  well-known  extracts  on  the  authorship  of  two  of  the 
Gospels  (Matthew,  Mark).  Papias  was  martyred  about 
the  same  time  as  Poly  carp  (c.  a.d.  155). 

4.  The  Theology  of  "  The  Apostolic  Fathers." 
— The  writings  above-named  have  little  independent 
theological  worth,  but  are  valuable  as  reflecting  the 
state  of  mind  in  the  early  Churcli  ere  theological 
reflection  had  yet  well  begun.  The  descent  from  the 
full  and  vigorous  presentation  of  doctrine  in  the 
apostolic  epistles  is  very  marked.  There  is  plentiful 
use  of  Scriptural  language,  but  often  little  real  insight 
into  its  meaning.  As  if  to  efface  past  differences,  and 
emphasise  Catholicity,  there  is  a  studious  linking 
together  of  the  names  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  as  of 
equal  honour  and  authority.  But  the  sharp  edges  are 
taken  off  the  thoughts  of  both,  with  the  result  that 
we  have  what  has  been  called  an  average  type  of 
doctrine,^  in  which  common  features  are  retained,  and 
distinctive  features  tend  to  be  lost. 

The  Christology  of  these  writings  is  in  the  main 

1  Thus  Ritschl. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERH    47 

strong  and  clear.  It  follows  the  lines  of  New  Testa- 
ment teaching  on  the  pre-existence,  deity,  incarnation, 
and  true  humanity  as  well  as  true  divinity  of  the  Son. 
Hernias  has  been  thought  to  be  an  exception,  but  his 
ninth  Similitude,  in  which  he  compares  Christ  to  a 
"  rock  "  and  a  *'  gate  " — a  "  rock  "  because  it  is  old 
(so  the  Son  of  God  is  older  than  all  creation,  and 
was  the  Father's  adviser  in  creation),  and  a  "  gate  " 
because  it  is  new  (so  He  was  made  manifest  in  the 
last  days  that  we  may  enter  the  Kingdom  of  (iod 
through  Him),  should  clear  him  from  this  imputation.^ 
On  the  Doctrine  of  Salvation  there  is  greater  vague- 
ness. In  some  of  the  writings  the  evangelical  note  is 
feeble  and  hardly  discernible  (Hermas,  Didache),  in 
others  it  is  remarkably  pronounced  (Polycarp,  Epistle 
to  Dioc/netus).  By  most  stress  is  laid  on  the  blood- 
shedding,  the  sufferings,  the  death  of  Christ,  as  the 
medium  of  cleansing  and  redemption,  but  there  is  no 
attempt  at  explanation.  Pauline  phraseology  is  used, 
but  the  Pauline  thought  is  generally  blunted,  and, 
under  the  conception  of  Christianity  as  a  "  New  Law" 
(Barnabas,  Hermas,  Didache),  there  is  a  tendency  to 
obscure  the  relation  of  faith  and  works,  and  to  lay 
a  one-sided  emphasis  on  obedience  as  the  condition  of 
salvation.  Forgiveness  is  connected  with  Baptism  ; 
the  rule  after  that  is  obedience,  and  good  works  {e.g., 
alms-giving)  aid  repentance  in  the  covering  of  sin. 
"Alms-giving  removeth  the  burden  of  sin"  (2  Cle)n.  16). 
In  EscHATOLOGY,  bcsidcs  retaining  the  ordinary  ele- 
ments of  apostolic  doctrine  (resurrection,  return  of 
Christ  to  judgment),  most  of  the  Fathers  seem  to  have 

^  Professor  Hamack  makes  Hermas  a  representative  of  an 
"  adoptionist,"  in  contrast  with  a  "  pneumatic,"  tjrpe  of 
Christology.  There  is  a  tendency  in  Hermas  to  confuse 
"  Son  "  and  "  Spirit." 


48  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

been  millenarians,  i.e.,  held  the  doctrine  of  1,000 
years'  reign  of  Christ  upon  the  earth  (Barnabas, 
Papias  ;  Didanhe  speaks  of  first  resurrection).  This 
doctrine,  especially  when  bound  up  with  material  and 
sensuous  elements,  as  in  Papias,  is  named  Chiliasm. 
The  punishment  of  the  wicked  is  viewed  as  eternal 
("  For  after  we  have  departed  out  of  the  world,  we 
can  no  more  make  confession  there,  or  repent  any 
more,"  2  Clem.  8). 

5.  The  Ignatian  Episcopacy. — We  are  brought 
at  this  stage  face  to  face  with  the  question  of  the 
origin  of  Episcopacy.     Two  sets  of  facts  meet  us : — 

(1)  A  large  body  of  evidence  exists  to  show  that,  in 
the  sub-apostolic  age,  in  the  Churches  of  the  West 
at  least,  the  constitution  was  not  essentially  different 
from  that  which  earlier  prevailed.  The  Churches  are 
ruled  by  elders  or  bishops  and  deacons,  and  there  is 
no  hint  of  any  higher  office.  Thus,  in  Clement^s 
Epistle,  elders  and  bishops  are  still  the  same  persons, 
and  these,  with  deacons,  are  the  only  office-bearers 
recognised.  This  is  evidence  for  both  Rome  and 
Corinth.  The  writer,  afterwards  called  Bishop  of 
Rome,  makes  no  claim  of  the  kind  for  himself.  The 
testimony  of  Hennas,  likewise  emanating  from  Rome, 
is  to  the  same  effect.  Hermas  knows  only  of  bishops 
who  are  also  elders.  The  names  are  interchangeable. 
The  Didache  bears  the  same  witness,  "  Choose  for 
yourselves  bishops  and  deacons."  A  higher  order  is 
unknown.  Ignatius,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
fails  in  any  reference  to  a  bishop  existing  in  that  city 
similar  to  the  bishops  in  Antioch,  Smyrna,  Ephesus, 
etc.i     This,  in  so  strenuous  an  upholder  of  episcopacy, 

^Mr.  Gore,  therefore,  oversteps  the  evidence  when  he  says, 
on  the  strength  of  a  rhetorical  expression  of  Ignatius,  that 
Ignatius  knows  of  "  no  non-episcopal  area." 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS    40 

shows  that  even  in  his  time  there  was  still  no 
monarchical  bishop  in  Rome.  Polycarp's  Epistle  to 
the  Philippians  bears  testimony  of  the  same  kind  for 
Philippi.  There  was  still  in  that  Church  no  office 
higher  than  the  apostolic  bishops  and  deacons. 

(2)  When  we  turn  to  the  remain'ng  Epistles  of 
Igmitius  different  conditions  confront  us.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  evidence  under  this  head  relates  to 
the  Churches  of  a  defined  area — Syria  and  Asia  Minor. 
We  find  not  only  a  bishop  for  each  Church  distinct 
from  the  presbyters  (elders),  but  the  most  extravagant 
exaltation  of  the  office  of  the  bishop.  The  bishop  is 
as  God,  and  the  presbytei-s  as  the  council  of  God.  Or 
the  bishop  is  as  Christ,  and  the  presbyters  are  as  the 
council  of  the  apostles.  The  presbyters  are  to  be 
attuned  to  the  bishop,  as  the  strings  of  a  lyre  to  the 
lyre.  The  great  thing  is  to  be  united  with  the  bishop. 
Without  the  bishop  it  is  not  lawful  to  baptise  or  cele- 
brate the  eucharist.  There  is  here,  therefore,  as 
clearly  three  grades  of  office-bearers — bishops,  presby- 
ters and  deacons — as  formerly  there  were  two.  Other 
evidence  confirms  the  testimony  of  these  epistles.  We 
have  Polycai-p,  e.g.,  at  Smyrna,  Papias  at  Hierapolis, 
etc. 

How,  now,  is  this  state  of  things  to  be  accounted 
for  ?  By  apostolic  authority  1  or  by  the  operation  of 
natural  causes,  elevating  the  episcopate  from  the  pres- 
byterate  ?  It  is  important,  in  answering  this  question, 
to  look  precisely  at  the  nature  of  the  Ignatian  Epis- 
copate. Distinction  must  be  made  between  the  facts 
to  which  Ignatius  witnesses  and  the  theory  he  holds. 
Ignatius  was  firmly  persuaded  that  in  exalting  the 
power  of  bishops  he  was  taking  the  best  means  of 
securing  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church.  But  it 
/loes  not  follow  that  bishops  had  yet  all  the  power  he 
4 


50  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

claimed  for  them.  The  very  vehemence  of  his  advo- 
cacy implies  that  they  had  not.  When  facts  are 
calmly  considered,  it  is  surprising  to  discover  how 
little  affinity,  after  all,  the  Ignatian  bishop  has  to  the 
bishop  of  the  developed  episcopal  system.  (1)  He  is 
a  purely  congregational,  not  a  diocesan  bishop.  Each 
several  Church — Antioch,  Smyrna,  Ephesus,  Tralles, 
etc. — had  its  own  bishop,  who,  in  this  respect,  differs 
little  from  the  modern  "pastor."  (2)  He  makes  no 
claim  to  apostolical  succession.  There  is  no  hint  of 
this  in  Ignatius.  Had  the  idea  existed,  so  keen  a 
defender  of  episcopacy  could  not  have  passed  it  over. 
(3)  He  has  no  sace^^dotal  functions.  "  There  is  not 
throughout  these  letters  the  slightest  tinge  of  sacer- 
dotal language  with  reference  to  the  Christian  ministry" 
(Lightfoot).  This  should  be  decisive  as  to  the  ideas  of 
the  age  in  question.  Such  are  the  facts — a  govern- 
ment by  presbyters  in  the  Churches  of  the  West ;  a 
form  of  congregational  episcopacy  in  Asia  Minor  and 
Syria.  By  the  middle  of  the  second  century  all  the 
Churches  would  seem  to  have  advanced  to  the  Ignatian 
stage. 

How  did  the  change  come  about  ?  The  theory  of  a 
DIRECT  APPOINTMENT  of  bisliops,  as  a  third  higher  order, 
by  the  original  apostles  is  no  longer  tenable  in  view 
of  the  above.  Canon  Gore,  accordingly,  would  supple- 
ment the  action  of  the  original  apostles  by  that  of 
"  apostolic  men  " — such  apostles  and  prophets  as  we 
read  of  in  the  Didache.  We  cannot  doubt,  he  thinks, 
that  one  of  these  prophets  settling  down  in  a  Church 
would  become  its  bishop  (pastor?).  Apart,  however, 
from  the  objection  that  the  functions  of  prophets  and 
bishops  were  distinct,  this,  even  if  admitted,  would 
cover  only  a  fragment  of  the  facts.  We  have  seen 
that  even  at  the  beginning  of   the  second  century 


THE  A(iE  OF  THE  ATOSTULIC  FATHERS     r,l 

leading  Apostolic  Churclies  had  no  one-man  })i.sliop, 
and  it  is  pure  assumption  that  the  bishops  of  all  other 
Churches  owed  their  origin  to  the  "  settling  down  "  of 
travelling  prophets.  There  is  not  a  word  of  this  in 
Ignatius. 

There  remains  the  possiltility  that  the  system,  how- 
ever introduced,  had  the  sanction  of  apostles — at 
least  of  the  Apostle  John  (Lightfoot).  Clement  of 
Alexandria  has  a  statement  that  St.  John  went  about 
from  place  to  place  establishing  bishops  and  organising 
Churches.  The  fact  can  neither  be  proved  nor  dis- 
proved, for  Clement  may  well  be  reading  back  into 
John's  action  a  meaning  from  his  own  times, ^  and  we 
have  no  clue  to  the  nature  of  the  bishops  (a  plurality^ 
or  single).  In  any  case  this  is  hardly  an  account  of 
the  oy-igin  of  the  system.  Of  that  the  simplest  ex- 
planation is  probably  the  truest.  The  president  of 
the  Council  of  Elders  {primus  inter  2^are.s),  as  the 
official  representative  of  the  Church,  having  the 
ordinary  direction  of  business,  the  conduct  of  public 
worship  (a  sort  of  archisynagogos),^  and  generally  an 
outstanding  man,  would  naturally  acquire  a  position 
of  prominence  in  distinction  from  the  other  elders. 
Times  of  stress  and  trial,  such  as  came  to  the  Church 
after  the  death  of  the  apostles,  when  tendencies  to 
disintegration  and  schism  were  rife,  would  [jowerfully 
strengthen  his  authority.     The  need  of  the  time  was 

1  Mr.  Gore  says  about  Tertullian  that  we  have  to  acknow- 
ledge "  a  little  idealising  "  in  his  statements  about  the  apos- 
tolic institution  of  the  Episcopates  at  Corinth  and  Philippi 
(p.  336). 

2ThusRitschl. 

3  The  "  angel  "  of  the  Book  of  Revelation  (ch.  ii.  1,  8,  12, 
etc.)  might  find  his  analogue  here.  But  it  is  doubtful  if  an 
individual  is  meant  at  all. 


52  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

good  leaders,  strong  and  stable  government,  wise 
direction.  Under  these  circumstances,  episcopacy, 
such  as  we  know  it  in  Ignatius'  day,  may  well  have 
arisen  without  the  assumption  of  any  apostolic  inter- 
position. 

Points  for  inqiciry  and  study.— Follow  out  the  traditions 
and  traces  of  the  early  progress  of  Christianity.  Read  the 
legend  of  Ignatius'  trial.  Read  Clement's  appeal  for  concord 
drawn  from  creation  (20),  also  the  final  prayer  (59,  60).  Read 
the  vision  of  the  shepherd  in  Hermas  (v.).  Read  chapters  5 
and  9  in  Epistle  to  Diognetus.  Collect  the  passages  on 
Christ's  passion  and  its  effects  in  this  group  of  writings. 
Show  the  equivalence  of  bishops  and  elders  in  Clement, 
Hermas  and  Polycarp. 

Books. — Pressense's  Early  Years  of  Christianity  ;  Farrar's 
Lives  of  the  Fathers ;  Ramsay's  Church  in  Roman  Empire; 
Orr's  Neglected  Factors ;  Lightfoot's  (or  other)  translation  of 
Apostolic  Fathers;  Donaldson's  Apostolic  Fathers;  Hatch's 
Organisation ;  Lightfoot's  Essay  on  "  Ministry  ". 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  (a.d.  117-180). 

The  period  of  the  Apologists  is  covered  by  tlic  three 
remaining  names  in  our  list  of  the  "  Good  Emperors." 
They  are  Hadrian  (a.d.  117-138),  Antoninus  Pius 
(a.d.  138-161),  and  Marcus  Aurelius  (a.d.  161-180). 
The  period  is  marked  externally  by  intermittent,  but 
severe  persecution  of  the  Christians,  and  by  the  com- 
mencement of  written  attacks  on  Christianity  ;  inter- 
nally by  the  rise  of  apology,  and  the  develoj)ment  of 
Gnosticism  and  Montanism.  Despite  persecution,  the 
remarkable  progress  of  the  Church  is  continued. 

1.  Hadrian  and  Antoninus  Pius.— The  attitude 
of  the  versatile  emperor  Hadrian,  in  whose  reign 
written  apology  began  (see  below),  was  on  the  whole 
not  unfavourable  to  Christianity.  There  is,  however, 
evidence  that  both  in  his  reign  and  that  of  his  suc- 
cessor, though  no  formal  persecution  is  reckoned,  the 
Christians  were  continually  exposed  to  harassment 
and  outbreaks  of  violence.  A  rescript  of  the  emperor 
to  Fundanus,  the  proconsul  of  Asia,  whose  predecessor 
had  written,  much  as  Pliny  did,  to  ask  direction,  for- 
bids him  to  receive  irregular  accusations,  or  to  yield 
to  popular  outcry.  If  Christians  are  proved  to  break 
the  laws,^  they  are  to  be  punished,  but  libellers  are 
to  be  punished  still  more  severely. 

^  It  is  a  moot  point  whether  breaking  the  laws  here  means 
more  than  the  mere  proof  that  one  was  a  Christian. 

(53) 


54  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Hadrian  nominated  to  succeed  him  Antoninus,  better 
known  (from  his  dutifulness  in  insisting  on  the  deifi- 
cation of  Hadrian)  as  Antoninus  Pius.  With  him  was 
associated  during  his  reign  of  twenty-three  years  his 
nephew,  Marcus  Aurelius.  Antoninus  was,  however, 
the  acting  and  responsible  emperor.  His  clemency, 
uprightness,  and  aflfableness  of  disposition  are  the 
praise  of  all  historians.  His  reign  has  commonly 
been  regarded  as  free  from  the  stain  of  persecution. 
This  is  a  mistake,  though  probably  the  emperor  him- 
self was  not  to  blame.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  is 
the  Antoninus  who,  when  proconsul  of  Asia,  after 
some  Christians  had  been  condemned,  and  when  the 
rest  in  great  numbers  presented  themselves  at  his 
tribiuial,  said  :  "  ^Miserable  men,  if  ye  desire  to  die, 
have  ye  not  ropes  and  precipices?"  (Tertullian).  But 
the  two  Apologies  of  Justin  Martyr,  and  his  Dialogue 
luiih  Trypho  —  all  of  this  reign  —  are  indubitable 
evidence  that  Christians  were  everywhere  objects  of 
hatred  and  persecution,  and  had  to  endure  losses, 
tortures,  and  death  for  their  religion  (e.g.^  Dial.,  110  ; 
specific  cases  in  2  ApoL,  i.  2).  Melito  of  Sardis, 
another  apologist,  speaks  of  numerous  edicts  issued 
by  Antoninus  (e.g.,  to  the  Larisspeans,  Thessalonians, 
Athenians,  forbidding  the  cities  to  take  new  measures 
against  the  Christians.  This  shows  that  the  emperor 
both  knew  of  these  persecutions,  and,  in  accordance 
with  his  humane  character,  took  steps  to  check  their 
violence. 

2.  The  Martyrdom  of  Polycarp. — We  have,  how- 
ever, one  undoubted  instance  of  martyrdom  in  this 
reign,  the  details  of  which,  preserved  in  a  contem- 
porary narrative,  throw  light  upon  the  whole.  Poly- 
carp OF  Smyrna  has  already  been  before  us  in  con- 
nection with  Ignatius.     Of  his  earlier  life  we  know 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  55 

little.  He  was  eighty-six  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
martyrdom  (a.d.  155) :  so  may  have  been  born  a.d. 
69  or  70.  He  was  a  disciple  of  St.  John,  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  often  repeated  to  the  youthful  Irenseus 
(who  was  kin  disciple)  the  things  he  had  heard  from 
the  apostle.^ 

The  account  of  his  martyrdom  is  given  in  a  beautiful 
and  affecting  letter  of  the  Church  of  which  he  was 
bishop.  The  great  festival  of  Asia  was  being  held  at 
Smyrna.  Some  cause  had  aroused  the  fury  of  the 
populace  against  the  Christians.  The  Jews  are 
specially  mentioned  as  active  in  the  persecution. 
Several  Christians  had  already  perished  amidst  dread- 
ful torments,  when  the  cry  went  up,  "Let  search  be 
made  for  Polycarp."  Polycarp  at  first  concealed  him- 
self, then,  on  his  retreat  being  discovered,  surrendered 
himself  to  the  will  of  God.  On  the  way  to  the  city 
he  was  taken  up  into  the  chariot  of  the  captain  of 
police,  who,  with  his  father,  urged  him  to  recant. 
Failing  in  their  object,  they  thrust  him  out  with 
violence.  Arrived  at  the  stadium,  he  was  interro- 
gated by  the  proconsul,  "Swear  by  the  genius  of 
Caesar;  say,  Away  with  the  Atheists!"  Polycarp, 
looking  to  heaven,  said,  "Away  with  the  Atheists!" 
"Revile  Christ,"  urged  the  proconsul.  "Fourscore 
and  six  years  have  I  served  Him,"  was  the  memokablb 
REPLY,  "and  He  hath  done  me  no  wrong.  How  can 
I  blaspheme  my  King  who  saved  me  ? "  The  herald 
proclainied,  "  Polycarp  hath  confessed  himself  a 
Christian,"  and  the  cry  rose  to  have  a  lion  let  loose 
on  him.  But  the  games  were  ended.  The  shout 
then  was  that  he  should  be  burned  alive.      Polycarp, 

^  On  his  visit  to  Anicetus,  the  Roman  bishop,  see  below, 
Chap.  viii. 


56  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

at  his  own  request,  was  only  bound,  not  nailed  to  the 
stake.  It  seemed  for  a  time  to  the  wondering  by- 
standers as  though  the  fire  refused  to  touch  him.  To 
end  the  scene,  an  executioner  was  ordered  to  stab 
him.i  The  poor  malice  of  the  Jews  frustrated  even 
the  desire  of  the  brethren  for  possession  of  his  body, 
which  was  consumed.  The  bishop's  death  stopped 
the  persecution,  and  probably  sent  many  home  to 
think,  with  the  consequence  that  they  became 
Christians  too.  Such,  at  least,  we  know  to  have  been 
a  frequent  outcome  of  these  martyrdoms  (Justin,  Dial., 
110;  2  Apol.,  ii.  12). 

3.  The  Age  of  the  Antonines— Marcus  Aure- 
lius. — Marcus  Aurelius  is  the  classic  representative  of 
his  age.  Vespasian,  in  the  previous  century,  had  in- 
stituted a  salaried  hierarchy  of  teachers — rhetoricians, 
grammarians,  philosophers — by  whom  the  Roman 
people  was  to  be  lectured  into  wisdom  and  virtue. 
The  result  was  a  species  of  ethical,  philosophical,  and 
even  religious  revival  in  the  empire.  Paganism  had 
its  itinerant  preachers  {e.g.,  Dion  Chrysostom,  Maxi- 
mus  of  Tyre),  whose  orations  or  harangues  were 
the  counterparts  of  the  Christian  sermons.  These 
tendencies  came  to  a  head  in  the  reign  of  Marcus 
Aurelius.  For  once  in  the  world's  history,  Plato's 
dream  of  a  state  which  had  a  philosopher  for  its 
ruler,  and  was  governed  by  philosophic  maxims, 
seemed  about  to  be  realised. 

Personally,  Marcus  is  justly  reckoned  one  of  the 
noblest  characters  of  heathenism.  His  "  Meditations  " 
embody  the  highest  ideal  of  stoical  morality,  in  union 
with  a  firm  confidence  in  a  rational  ordering  of  the 

1  The  legendary  feature  of  a  "  dove  "  issuing  from  his  side 
is  not  in  the  oldest  version  (Eusebius),  and  is  probably  a  cor- 
ruption or  interpolation. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  57 

world,  characteristic  of  the  later  Stoicism.  Yet  it  is 
the  STOICAL,  not  the  Christian  ideal,  it  lacks  the 
tenderness,  humility,  dependence,  benignity,  hopeful- 
ness of  the  (v'hristian  temper.  Between  Christianity, 
with  its  confession  of  sin  and  moral  weakness,  and 
Aurelius,  with  his  philosophic  self-sufficiency,  passive 
resignation,  stern  suppression  of  passion,  and  cheer- 
less fatalism,  there  could  be  nothing  but  antagon- 
ism. There  is  but  one  allusion  to  Christianity  in 
the  Meditations  (xi.  3),  and  it  breathes  the  iciest 
contempt.  Marcus,  too,  if  a  Stoic,  was  a  devoted 
Roman,  fixed  in  his  determination  to  maintain  the 
established  institutions.  His  character  was  not  with- 
out its  strain  of  superstition,^  and  it  is  noted  of  him 
that  in  his  latter  years  his  melancholy  disposition  grew 
upon  him,  and  he  became  peculiarly  zealous  in  heathen 
rites.  It  is  scarcely  wonderful,  therefore,  that,  even 
under  this  paragon  of  emperors,  "Christian  blood 
flowed  more  freely  than  it  had  flowed  any  time  during 
the  previous  half  century  " — that  "  in  fact  the  wound 
was  never  staunched  during  his  reign  "  (Lightfoot). 
To  him  is  ascribed  what  we  are  accustomed  to  reckon 

the  FOURTH  PERSECUTION. 

4.  Persecutions  under  Marcus— The  Martyrs 
of  Yienne  and  Lyons. — There  is  one  story  told  of 
Marcus  which,  if  it  could  be  believed,  would  clear  his 
memory  in  part  of  the  stain  of  persecution.  It  is  the 
story  of  the  Thundering  Legion.  TertuUiau  and 
others  relate  that  in  one  of  his  campaigns  the  army 
was  in  extreme  distress  from  thirst.  The  Christian 
soldiers  of  the  twelfth  legion  prayed,  and,  in  answer 
to  their  prayers,  copious  showers  of  rain  fell,  and  a 
violent  storm  drove  away  the  enemy.     Appended  to 

1  See  Froude,  Renan,  Uhlhorn,  etc.  (note  at  end). 


58  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Justin's  first  Apology  is  an  alleged  epistle  from  the 
emperor  to  the  senate,  ascribing  his  deliverance  to 
the  prayers  of  the  Christians,  and  commanding  that 
they  be  no  more  molested.  Unhappily  the  epistle  is 
not  genuine.  It  seems  certain  that  the  deliverance 
took  place,  only  the  heathen  attributed  it,  not  to  the 
prayers  of  the  Christians,  but  to  the  interposition  of 
their  own  gods.  In  the  pagan  account  Marcus  is 
represented  as  stretching  his  hands  to  heaven,  and 
invoking  Jupiter. 

The  positive  evidences  of  persecution  in  this  reign, 
and  of  the  emperor's  implication  in  it,  are  not  few. 
At  Rome  itself  there  is  the  case  of  Justin  Martyr 
AND  HIS  SIX  COMPANIONS,  who  Suffered  under  the 
prefect  Rusticus  (a  tutor  of  Aurehus)  about  a.d.  163-66 
(see  below).  The  emperor  could  hardly  have  been 
ignorant  of  this  case.  There  is  the  testimony  of 
Melito  of  Sardis  (c.  a.d.  170)  to  a  very  severe  persecu- 
tion in  Asia  Minor.  He  speaks  of  God's  servants 
being  persecuted  as  they  never  were  before  by  "  new 
edicts  "  which  gave  the  property  of  Christians  to  their 
accusers.  Melito  professes  to  doubt  w^hether  these 
edicts  emanated  from  the  emperor,  but  the  doubt  can 
only  be  assumed  for  the  purposes  of  his  appeal.  A 
proconsul  would  not  issue  such  "edicts  "on  his  own 
responsibility.  Even  the  heathen  Celsus,  who  wrote 
in  this  reign  (see  below),  speaks  of  Christ  as  banished 
from  EVERY  land  and  sea,  and  of  His  servants  as  bound 
and  led  to  punishment,  and  put  upon  the  stake 
(Origen,  viii.  39). 

But  the  chief  persecution  we  know  of,  which  stands 
out  with  the  distinctness  of  a  limelight  picture  in  its 
blending  of  the  horrible  and  the  sublime,  is  that  of 
the  Churches  of  Vienne  and  Lyons  in  Gaul.  It  was 
a  case  in  which  Marcus  Aurelius  was  expressly  con- 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOr^OfJTRTS  no 

suited,  and  gave  his  sanction  to  what  was  done.  The 
account  of  it  is  contained  in  a  circular  epistle  ad- 
dressed by  the  Churches  '  to  their  brethren  in  Asia 
and  Phrygia— "the  pearl  of  the  Christian  literature 
of  the  second  century,"  Renan  calls  it.  Lyons  and 
Vienne  were  two  cities  of  Gaul  where  the  Rhone  and 
the  Saone  join.  Lyons  was  a  great  seat  of  Ciesar- 
worship,  and  the  place  of  the  aiuiual  meeting  of  the 
Gallic  deputies  in  council.  The  jiersecution  was  in 
A.D.  177,  in  the  midst  of  the  closing  troubles  of 
Marcus's  reign.  It  began  with  acts  of  mob-violence  ; 
then  the  prominent  pei*sons  of  the  two  Churches  were 
arrested,  and  dragged  with  clamour  and  insult  before 
the  tribunals.  Tortiu-es  beyond  description  w^ere  ap- 
plied to  the  Christians  to  make  them  confess  t(^  secret 
crimes,  but  without  effect. 

Four  names  stand  out  conspicuous  for  heroism  and 
constancy — Sanctus,  a  deacon  from  Vienne  ;  Maturus, 
a  recent  convert;  Attains,  from  Pergamos  ;  above  all, 
Blandina,  a  slave  girl,  whose  mistress  was  also  one  of 
the  martyrs.  Blandina  was  torn  and  mangled  almost 
beyond  recognition  without  extorting  from  her  more 
than  the  words,  "  I  am  a  Christian  ;  there  is  nothing 
vile  done  among  us."  The  aged  bishop  Pothinus 
(ninety  years  old)  was  dragged  before  the  judgment 
seat,  and  there  so  cruelly  maltreated  that,  when  cast 
into  prison,  he  lingered  only  two  days.  Irenajus 
succeeded  him.  A  new  round  of  torments  was  devised 
for  the  others — mangling  by  wild  beasts,  roasting  in 
an  iron  chair,  etc.  Blandina  was  suspended  on  a  stake 
and  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  wild  animals.  But  they 
refused  at  this  time  to  touch  her.  Attains,  a  Roman 
citizen,  was  reserved  till  Cicsar's  i)leasure  should  be 
known. 

^  Possibly  written  by  Irenaeus. 


60  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

The  FINAL  SCENE  of  the  martyrdom  was  on  the  day 
of  the  great  festival.  The  emperor's  reply  had  come, 
ordering  that  such  as  confessed  themselves  Christians 
should  be  put  to  death.  All  who  proved  steadfast 
were  brought  forth  to  punishment.  The  Romans  were 
beheaded  ;  the  rest  were  taken  to  the  amphitheatre. 
Again  the  round  of  frightful  torture  was  gone  through. 
Attalus,  as  a  specially  notable  Christian,  was,  despite 
his  Roman  citizenship,  roasted  in  the  chair.  Blandina 
herself,  after  renewed  manglings  and  burnings,  was 
enclosed  in  a  net  and  given  to  be  tossed  by  a  bull. 
Thus,  last  of  all  her  company,  she  perished.  The 
knell  of  slavery  was  surely  rung  when  scenes  like 
these  could  be  enacted  !  The  rage  of  the  people  wreaked 
itself  even  on  the  lifeless  remains  of  the  victims.  To 
prevent  resurrection  they  burned  them,  and  scattered 
the  ashes  in  the  Rhone.  What  strikes  one  in  the 
pathetic  narrative  of  these  sufferings  is  its  tone  of 
calm  sobriety  —  its  utter  absence  of  boasting,  or 
spiritual  pride,  or  over-eager  desire  for  martyrdom. 
Other  religions  have  their  martyrs — but  have  they 
martyrs  like  these  ? 

5.  The  Rise  of  Apology. — The  rise  of  a  written 
apology  for  Christianity  in  this  age  is  a  fact  of  great 
significance.     It  shows  that  Christianity  had  entered 

LITERARY    CIRCLES;    showS    alsO    the    GROWING  BOLDNESS 

of  the  Christians,  and  their  confidence  in  their  ability 
to  refute  calumny  and  vanquish  prejudice  by  an 
openly-reasoned  statement  of  their  case.  They  had 
the  world  against  them ;  but  their  invincible  reliance 
was  on  the  power  of  truth.  They  were  ready  to  lay 
down  their  lives  as  heretofore ;  bat  they  would  not 
let  the  world  remain  in  blindness  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  religion  it  assailed.  They  set  themselves  to 
VINDICATE   Christianity  ;    to   expose  also  the  folly 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  61 

and    IMMORALITY  of  the  pagan    idolatry  by  which   it 
was  opposed. 

The  apologetic  literature  of  the  second  century, 
therefore,  is  both  voluminous  and  rich.  It  covers  a 
wide  area  in  space.  Its  authors  are  men  of  culture 
AND  LEARNING,  skilled  reasoncrs,  many  of  them  philo- 
sophers by  profession,  who,  at  the  cost  of  their  worldly 
prospects,  put  their  talent  and  eloquence  at  the  ser- 
vice of  the  religion  they  had  espoused.  It  breathes 
throughout  a  tone  of  dignity  and  lofty  conviction, 
and  must  have  been  a  powerful  factor  in  aiding  the 
progress  of  Christianity  it  so  strikingly  describes. 
Such  an  apology  was  demanded,  if  by  nothing  else, 
by  the  slanders  in  circulation  about  the  Christians, 
and  almost  universally  believed  (cannibalism,  promis- 
cuous immorality,  worship  of  ass's  head,  etc.).  The 
refutation  of  these  charges  is  complete.  Scarcely 
less  effective  is  the  reply  to  the  charges  of  impiety 
and  disloyalty  ;  while  the  exhibition  of  the  truth  and 
reasonableness  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  of  the  purity 
and  simplicity  of  Christian  worship  and  morality,  is 
heightened  by  the  dark  background  of  heathen  irreli- 
gion  and  vice  against  which  it  is  cast.  The  apologists 
may  be  grouped  as  those  belonging  to  the  reign  of 
Hadrian  (Quadvatus,  Aristides),  those  of  the  reign  of 
Antoninus  (Justin,  Tatian),  and  those  of  the  time  of 
Marcus  Aurelius  (Athenagoras,  Theophilus,  Melito, 
Minucius  Felix,  etc.).  Tertullian  and  Ori.Ljcn  belong 
to  the  next  period. 

6.  The  Earlier  Apologists— Justin  Martyr.— 
The  oldest  apologist,  Quadratus,  is  little  more  than 
a    name   to    us.^     He   addressed   an    apology    to    the 

1  Possibly  he  is  identical  with  Quadratus,  an  evangelist 
mentioned  by  Eusebius  (iii.  37). 


62  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Emperor  Hadrian  (Athens,  a.d.  125-26?),  of  which 
only  a  single  extract  is  preserved.  He  lays  stress 
upon  the  Saviour's  miracles.  The  other  apologist 
of  this  reign,  Aristides,  was,  till  lately,  even  more 
completely  unknown.  It  was  only  know^n  that  he 
was  a  philosopher  of  Athens,  and  had  also  presented 
an  apology  to  Hadrian  (a.d.  125-26).  In  1889,  how- 
ever, a  complete  Syriac  version  of  this  apology  was 
brought  to  light  1  (tw^o  Armenian  fragments  earlier). 
Then  the  remarkable  discovery  was  made  that  scholars 
had  this  apology  all  the  while,  and  were  not  aware  of 
the  fact.  In  a  famous  mediaeval  romance,  Barlaam 
and  Joscqjhat,  an  apology  for  Christianity  is  put  into 
the  mouth  of  one  of  the  characters.  This  turns  out 
to  be  substantially  the  apology  of  Aristides,  of  which 
the  Greek  text  has  thus  been  obtained.  The  apology 
is  mainly  a  defence  of  theism  against  the  errors  of 
paganism,  and  a  powerful  vindication  of  Christian 
morality.  It  testifies  to  the  existence  of  a  written 
Gospel.  A  third  writer,  Aristo  of  Pella,  reputed 
author  of  a  lost  dialogue  betw^een  a  Christian  (Jason) 
and  a  Jew  (Papiscus),  may  belong  to  the  end  of  this 
reign.  The  work  is  before  or  about  the  middle  of  the 
century. 

Greatest  of  all  the  apologists  of  this  period  whose 
works  have  come  down  to  us  is  Justin  the  Martyr. 
From  him  we  have  two  Ajyologies,  addressed  to  Anto- 
ninus Pius  and  the  Roman  Senate  (c.  a.d.  150),  and 
a  Dialogue  ivith  Trypho,  a  Jew^,  a  little  later  in  date. 
Other   w^ritings   attributed    to    him    are   of   doubtful 

iThe  discovery  was  made  by  Dr.  Kendel  Harris,  in  the 
Convent  of  St.  Catherine,  Mount  Sinai.  An  inscription  in 
the  Syriac  version  puts  the  apology  under  Antoninus,  but 
the  ordinary  date  seems  preferable.  The  author  knows  the 
Didache,  or  the  work  on  which  it  is  based. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOCISTS  63 

genuineness  or  s})urious.  Justin  was  a  native  of 
Flavia  Neapolis  (Sychem)  in  Samaria.  In  tlie  intro- 
duction to  his  Dialogiie  he  narrates  the  manner  of  his 
CONVERSION.  He  had  gone  from  one  jjhilosophical 
school  to  another  in  searcli  of  truth.  A  conversation 
with  an  old  man  whom  he  met  on  the  seashore  directed 
him  to  the  Scriptures  and  to  Christ.  He  became 
persuaded  that  here  was  the  only  sure  and  worthy 
PHiLOSorHY,  and,  still  wearing  Ids  philosopher's  cloak, 
thenceforth  set  himself  to  impart  to  others  the  light 
he  had  obtained.  We  find  him  at  Ephesus  and  Rome 
teaching  and  disputing  in  his  double  capacity  of 
philosopher  and  Christian.  His  disputes  brought 
him  into  collision  with  one  Crescens,  a  cynic,  who 
plotted  his  death  and  that  of  his  disciples.  Through 
the  machinations  of  this  man,  or  in  some  other  way, 
he  and  six  companions  were  apprehended.  Brought 
before  the  prefect  Rusticus,  they  were  condemned  to 
DEATH  by  decapitation  1  (a.d.  163-66).    . 

Justin's  FIRST  APOLOGY  is  in  the  main  a  nobly  con- 
ceived and  admirably  sustained  piece  of  argument. 
It  consists  of  three  parts— the  first  refuting  the  charges 
against  the  Christians,  the  second  proving  the  truth 
of  the  Christian  religion,  chiefly  from  prophecy,^  the 
third  explaining  the  nature  of  the  Cliristian  worship. 
The  second  apology  was  evoked  by  a  specially  shame- 
ful instance  of  persecution  under  Urbicus  the  prefect. 
The  Dialogue  with  Trypho  is  the  account  of  a  long 
disputation  at  Ephesus  with  a  liberal-minded  Jew,  and 
meets  his  objections  to  Christianity. 

^  The  "Acts"  of  this  martyrdom  are  accepted  as  rehable. 

2  The  apologetic  argument  from  prophecy  would  need  to  be 
wholly  recast  in  the  light  of  modern  knowledge;  yet  the 
Scriptures  chiefly  relied  on  are  those  which  the  Church  has 
always  accepted  as  in  a  true  sense  Messianic. 


64  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Incidentally,  Justin's  writings  throw  valuable  light 
on  many  matters  of  importance,  as,  e.g.,  on  the 
existence  and  use  of  the  canonical  Gospels,  called  by 
him  the  "Memoirs  of  the  Apostles"  (1  AjooL,  66-7; 
Dial.,  10,  100,  103),  on  the  victorious  spread  of 
Christianity  {Dial.,  llTy  and  on  the  details  of  the 
Christian  weekly  service  (1  AjjoL,  65-7).  The  picture 
of  the  last  is  singularly  life-like  and  minute.  The 
day  of  worship,  as  in  Pliny,  is  Sunday,  the  service 
is  under  the  direction  of  a  "  president "  (not  even  yet 
by  Justin  called  a  bishop),  the  reading  of  the  Prophets 
and  the  Gospels  is  an  established  part  of  the  service, 
the  president  delivers  a  "homily"  or  discourse,  the 
congregation  rise  at  prayer,  and  respond  to  the  prayer 
of  the  president  with  an  "  Amen,"  the  eucharist  is 
celebrated  at  the  close  of  the  prayer  after  sermon 
(the  agajye  probably  in  the  evening),  the  distribution 
is  made  by  the  deacons,  who  take  portions  to  the 
absent,  after  the  eucharist  offerings  are  made  for  the 
poor,  the  sick,  prisoners,  etc. 

The  other  apologist  of  the  reign  of  Antoninus  is 
Tatian,  an  Assyrian  b}^  birth,  and  disciple  of  Justin's. 
He  afterwards  fell  into  gnostic  heresy.^  Tatian's 
apologetic  work  is  an  Address  to  the  Greeks  (a.d.  150), 
learned,  but  bitter,  biting,  and  contemptuous  in  spirit. 
He  is  better  known  through  his  famous  Diatessaron, 
or  "  Harmon}^  of  the  Four  Gospels,"  the  discovery 
of  which  in  its  complete  form  in  an  Arabic  translation 
is  one  of  the  sensations  of  recent  years. ^     This  finally 

1  The  catacombs  too  attest  this,  and  show  that  Christianity 
had  entered  the  highest  ranks  {e.g.,  cemeteries  of  Prsetextatus 
and  Ceecilia).     See  Neglected  Factors,  p.  132  &. 

2  See  Chap.  vi. 

2  Published  in  1888.  Latin  of  an  Armenian  translation  of  a 
Syriac  commentary  on  the  Harmony  was  published  in  1876. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  05 

establishes  the  character  of  the  "  Gospels  "  described 
by  Justin  as  in  use  in  the  Churches. 

7.  Later  Apologists. — The  apoloj^ists  of  the  reign 
of  Marcus  Aurelius  can  be  more  rapidly  enumerated. 
The  first,  Athenagoras,  was,  like  Aristides,  a  philo- 
sopher of  Athens.  He  is  the  most  polished  and  classical 
in  style  of  all  the  apologists.  His  apology,  entitled  an 
Intercession  for  the  Christians  (a.d.  177),  is  chiefly 
devoted  to  the  refutation  of  the  charges  against  the 
Christians  (atheism,  eating  human  flesh,  immorality), 
and  is  a  piece  of  calm,  reasonable,  effective  pleading. 
He  wrote  also  a  work  on  the  Resurrection.  Theo- 
PHILUS,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  belongs  to  the  severe  school 
of  apologists.  He  wrote  an  apology  in  three  books 
addressed  to  his  friend  Autolychus  (c.  a.d.  180).  He 
can  see  no  good  in  the  philosophei-s  and  poets,  whose 
errors  and  contradictions  he  shows  up  in  detail.  The 
few  grains  of  truth  he  finds  in  them  were  stolen,  he 
thinks,  from  the  Hebrew  prophets.  He  has  some 
forcible  chapters  on  the  purity  and  beauty  of  the 
Christian  morality.  Theophilus  is  the  first  to  men- 
tion the  Gospel  of  St.  John  by  name.  The  Gospel 
itself,  of  course,  was  in  use  long  before.  It  was  in- 
cluded, e.g.,  in  the  Diatessaron  of  Tatian.  Melito, 
Bishop  of  Sardis  (c.  a.d.  170),  has  been  quoted  on  the 
edicts  of  emperors.  His  apology  to  Marcus  Aurelius 
is  known  only  from  extracts.  It  is  characteristic  of 
the  age  that,  in  addressing  the  emperor,  he  speaks 
of  the  new  religion  as  "our  philosophy."  Melito 
wrote  numerous  other  works.  To  him  we  owe  also 
the  first  C^hristian  list  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  i.e., 
of  the  Old  Testament  canon.  Hermias,  date  uncertain, 
wrote  A  Mockery  of  Heathen  Philosophers,  still  extant. 
The  title  explains  the  character  of  the  work. 

Other  writers,  whose  apologetic  works  are  lost, 
5 


66  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

were  Apolinarius,  Bishop  of  Hierapolis  (c.  a.d.  174), 
and  MiLTiADES,  the  former  the  author  of  Five  Books 
against  the  Greeks,  addressed  to  the  emperor,  the 
latter  of  an  apology  addressed  To  the  Rulers  of  this 
World,  with  other  treatises.  Finally,  there  is  the 
beautiful  and  able  book  of  the  Latin  apologist  Mmu- 
cius  Felix.  There  is  a  doubt,  indeed,  whether  this 
work  should  be  placed  here,  or  later,  after  Tertullian ; 
but  the  presumption  is  strong  in  favour  of  the  earlier 
date.  Fronto,  e.g.,  who  wrote  against  the  Christians 
in  this  reign  (see  below),  is  spoken  of  as  a  contem- 
porary. The  piece  itself  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue 
between  Octavius  and  a  heathen  Csecilius  (friends  of 
Minucius,  a  Roman  advocate) — hence  its  title  Octavius. 
Caecilius  states  the  case  for  the  old  faith  and  Octavius 
replies.  The  intrinsic  worth  of  the  book  is  enhanced 
by  its  high  artistic  and  literary  merit. 

8.  Other  Writers. — A  passing  allusion  should  be 
made  to  two  other  writers  of  note  in  this  age — 
Hegesippus,  who  wrote  five  books  of  Memoirs  some 
time  between  a.d.  175  and  a.d.  189  ;  and  Dionysius, 
Bishop  of  Corinth  (c.  170),  whose  fame  rests  chiefly  on 
his  pastoral  epistles,  of  w^hich  he  wrote  a  great  many. 
The  works  of  both  are  lost,  but  Eusebius  has  pre- 
served valuable  extracts.  The  Memoirs  of  Hegesippus 
were  not  history  in  the  strict  sense,  but  appear  to 
have  been  a  collection  of  reminiscences  of  the  apos- 
tolic and  post-apostolic  ages,  drawn  partly  from 
written,  partly  from  oral  sources,  in  part  also  from  the 
writer's  own  observation.  The  author  was  extensively 
travelled,  and  the  information  he  had  to  convey 
would,  if  we  possessed  it,  be  extremely  useful. 

9.  The  Literary  Attack  on  Christianity.— No 
sketch  of  the  literature  of  this  period  would  be  com- 
plete which,  besides  a  survey  of  the  apologists,  did  not 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOrnsrs  ^7 

include  some  reference  to  the  litehauy  opposition  to 
Christianity.  It  is  another  testimony  to  the  growing 
importance  of  Christianity  that  the  age  which  saw  the 
rise  of  a  formal  Christian  apology  saw  also  the  begin- 
nings of  a  formal  literary  attack  of  exceptional  skill 
and  keenness.  Tlie  earliest  of  the  literary  assailants 
we  know  of  was  Fronto,  tutor  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 
who  published  an  oration  in  which  he  reiterated  the 
scandalous  charges  brought  against  the  Christians. 
His  argument  is  conjectured  by  Kenan  to  be  nearly 
textually  embodied  in  the  discourse  of  Csecilius  in 
the  Octavius  of  Minucius  Felix. 

A  more  formidable  assailant  was  Celsus,  whose 
T7m€  Discourse  (c.  a.d.  180)  was  the  subject  of 
Origen's  later  classical  refutation  in  his  Euikt  Books 
against  Celsus  (a.d.  249).  Celsus  is  probably  to  be 
identified  with  an  (alleged)  Epicurean  of  that  name, 
an  able  literary  man,  and  friend  of  Lucian,  who  wrote 
also  against  magic.  Of  wide  reading  and  undeni- 
able acuteness,  he  spares  no  pains  to  damage  and 
DISCREDIT  the  Christians,  while  acquitting  them  of 
the  graver  calumnies  that  were  current.  He  first 
introduces  a  Jew  to  gather  up  the  slanders  of 
the  synagogue ;  then  in  his  own  name  subjects  the 
Gospel  history  and  beliefs  of  the  Christians  to  criticism 
and  ridicule  from  the  standpoint  of  the  true  philo- 
sophy. Everything  in  Christianity — particularly  its 
doctrine  of  redemption  —is  an  offence  to  him.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  of  his  work  that,  relatively  to  its 
age,  it  was  as  trenchant  an  assault  as  any  that  has 
since  come  from  the  artillery  of  unbelief.  Yet,  as  far 
as  can  be  seen,  its  influence  was  nil  in  stopping  the 
triumphant  march  of  Christianity.  Its  obvious  un- 
fairness and  utter  insensibility  to  the  holy  love  and 
power  of  the  Christian  religion,  deprived  it  of  all  effect 


68  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

on  minds  that  knew  from  experience  what  Christianity- 
was. 

Another  typical  opponent  of  Christianity  in  this 
age  was  the  sceptical  and  witty  Lucian  of  Samosata, 
a  born  hater  of  shams,  but  withal  cynical  and  heart- 
less in  his  judgments  on  men  and  things.  In  his 
Peregrinus  Proteus  he  describes  how  a  cynic  charlatan 
succeeded  in  imposing  on  the  Christians,  and  was 
made  the  object  of  their  lavish  kindness  when  in 
prison  for  his  faith.  Yet  the  picture  he  draws  of  the 
attentions  of  Christians  to  their  unfortunate  brethren, 
intended  to  cover  them  with  ridicule,  in  reality  re- 
dounds to  their  highest  honour.  Only  Lucian  was 
not  the  man  to  see  this  ! 

Points  for  inquiry  and  study. — Read  the  original  narra- 
tives of  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp  and  of  the  martyrs  of 
Vienne  and  Lyons  (Eusebius,  Lightfoot).  Note  indications 
in  the  latter  of  the  social  rank  of  the  victims,  and  compare 
catacomb  testimony  (Orr).  Compare  more  fully  the  ethics  of 
the  Meditations  with  the  morality  of  the  Gospel.  Study  the 
character  of  Marcus  on  its  Roman  side.  Read  Justin's 
account  of  his  conversion  and  of  the  Christian  worship. 
Analyse  the  True  Discourse  of  Celsus  (Pressense),  and  account 
for  its  failure.  Classify  the  principal  branches  of  second 
century  apology. 

Books. — Merivale,  Pressense,  Uhlhorn,  Farrar,  Orr,  etc., 
as  before  ;  Cape's  Age  of  the  Anto7iines,  in  "  Epochs  "  series  ; 
Fronde's  "  Origen  and  Celsus,"  "A  Cagliostro  of  the  Second 
Century,"  "Lucian,"  in  Short  Studies;  Renan's  Marcus 
Aureli^is  :  Jjong's  Thoughts  of  Marcus  Aurelius ;  Diatessaron, 
etc.,  in  additional  volume  of  "  Ante-Nicene  Library." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    AGE    OF   THE    APOLOGISTS    (Continued)— 
GNOSTICISM  AND  MONTANISM  (a.d.   117-180). 

The  external  conflict  of  the  Church  in  this  period  was 
with  paganism.  Its  internal  conflicts  were  with  Gnos- 
ticism and  MoNTANisM.  The  conflict  with  Gnosticism 
reacted  powerfully  on  the  development  of  theology  ; 
the  conflict  with  Montanism  did  much  to  strengthen 
the  bands  of  ecclesiastical  authority.  But  the  apolo- 
gists also,  from  the  nature  of  their  task,  had  to  state 
and  defend  Christian  doctrines,  i.e.,  to  theologise. 
They  are  our  first  theologians.  They  form  the  link 
between  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  whose  theology  is  as 
yet  naive  and  unreflective,  and  the  later  Church 
teachers,  with  whom  the  construction  of  a  system  of 
Christian  truth  has  become  a  distinct  and  conscious 
aim  {e.g.,  Origen). 

1.  The  Apologists  as  Theologians. — It  is  usual 
in  recent  years  to  speak  of  the  apologists  as  teachers 
of  a  RATIONAL  THEOLOGY  (a  doctriue  of  God,  virtue, 
immortality),  which  misses  the  distinctive  essence  of 
Christianity — to  which  Christianity  is  related  only  as 
revelation  and  supernatural  attestation.  There  is 
colour  for  this  judgment,  but  it  is  one-sided  and 
defective.  From  the  necessity  of  their  position,  the 
apologists  dealt  chiefly  with  the  truths  of  what  we 
may  call  "natural  religion" — the  imity  and  moral 
government  of  God,  the  creation  of  the  world, 
(69) 


70  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

judgment  to  come,  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  etc. — and  sought  to  emphasise  these  in 
opposition  to  pagan  idolatry,  stoical  pantheism,  epi- 
curean indifFerentism,  and  belief  in  fate.  If  they  gave 
these  doctrines  a  rational  dress,  this  is  explained  by 
their  training  and  habits  as  philosophers,  and  by 
accommodation  to  the  spirit  of  the  age.  It  would 
have  been  out  of  place  in  reasoning  with  pagans  to 
have  discussed  the  interior  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
religion  about  which  the  pagans  knew  and  cared 
nothing  (c/.  St.  Paul,  Acts  xvii.  23-31  ;  xxiv.  25). 

But  the  doctrines  taught  are  Christian  doctrines 
(in  contrast  with  Greek  and  other  speculations),  and 
are  treated  in  their  Christian  aspects  and  relations. 
The  morality  also  is  the  spiritual  morality  of  the 
Gospel.  The  apologists,  one  and  all,  held  strongly  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  in  this  connection  gave 
prominence  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos  ("  Word  "), 
the  Father's  insti'ument  in  the  creation  of  the  world, 
who  became  incarnate  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  too  is 
Scriptural  doctrine.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that, 
while  holding  Son  and  Spirit  to  be  truly  of  the  nature 
of  God,  they  fell  short  in  one  important  respect  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  later  creeds.  Assuming  in  some  sense 
an  eternal  distinction  between  the  Logos  and  the 
Father,  they  yet  seem  to  have  believed  that  the 
coming  forth  of  the  Son  (Spirit  also)  into  distinct 
PERSONAL  existence  (as  second  "  Person  "  of  the 
Trinity)  was  not  eternal,  but  was  immediately  prior 
to  creation,  and  with  a  view  to  it.  The  Logos 
("Word")  was  held  to  be  the  source  of  all  rational 
intelligence  and  wisdom  in  men  (c/.  John  i.  4,  9),  and 
what  portions  of  truth  heathen  sages  possessed  w^ere 
due  to  His  presence  in  their  minds.  In  Christ  the 
whole  Word  was  incarnate  ;  hence  in  Him  Christians 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  71 

have  the  full  truth  (Justin).  The  apologists  are 
witnesses  to  Gospel  facts  and  hopes—  Justin  especi- 
ally. From  the  writings  of  Justin  a  great  part  of  the 
Gospel  history  can  be  reproduced. 

Further,  while  most  of  the  apologists  confine  them- 
selves to  the  general  ("rational")  truths  indicated 
above,  Justin  has  something  to  say  of  the  specific 
Christian  doctrines.  Man  through  disobedience  is 
become  the  child  of  necessity  and  ignorance,  and  has 
fallen  under  the  tyranny  of  the  demons  (1  ApoL,  10, 
54-61,  etc.  The  heathen  world  generally  is  viewed  as 
ruled  by  the  demons).  Jesus  by  His  sufferings  and 
death  has  redeemed  us  from  the  curse,  and  obtained 
remission  of  sins  for  those  w^ho  repent,  believe,  and 
keep  His  commandments  {e.g.,  Dial.,  94-6).  Forgive- 
ness is  Ijestowed  in  Baptism,  which  is  spoken  of  as 
"regeneration"  (1  ApoL,  61,  66,  etc.).  The  sacra- 
mentarian  idea  is  thus  already  well  established.  A 
mystical  virtue,  in  like  manner,  attaches  to  the  bread 
and  wine  of  the  eucharist,  which  are  no  longer  "  com- 
mon food  and  drink,"  but  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  through  which  our  own  flesh  and  blood  are 
nourished  (1  Apol.,  66).  Still  it  is  true  that  Justin 
regards  Christianity,  in  accordance  with  the  temper 
of  the  time,  too  much  as  "  a  new  philosophy  "  and  "  a 
new  law\" 

2.  Gnosticism — Its  General  Character. — Gnos- 
ticism is  the  peculiar  heresy  of  the  second  century.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  appearances  of  any  age. 
It  may  be  described  generally  as  the  fantastic  pro- 
duct of  the  blending  of  certain  Christian  ideas — 
particularly  that  of  redemption  through  Christ — with 
speculations  and  imaginings  derived  from  a  medley  of 
sources  (Greek,  Jewish,  Parsic,  Oriental ;  philosophies, 
religions,   theosophies,    mysteries)    in    a  period  when 


72  THE  EARLY  CHUKCH 

the  human  mind  was  in  a  kind  of  ferment,  and  when 
opinions  of  every  sort  were  jumbled  together  in  an 
unimaginable  welter.  It  involves,  as  the  name  de- 
notes, a  claim  to  "  knowi.bdge" — knowledge  of  a  kind 
of  which  the  ordinary  believer  was  incapable,  and  in 
the  possession  of  which  "  salvation  "  in  the  full  sense 
consisted.  This  knowledge  of  which  the  Gnostic 
boasted  related  to  the  subjects  ordinarily  treated  of 
in  religious  philosophy ;  Gnosticism  was  a  species  of 
RELIGIOUS  PHILOSOPHY.  Such  qucstious  wcrc  the 
relation  of  infinite  and  finite,  the  origin  of  the  world 
and  of  evil,  the  cause,  meaning,  purpose  and  destiny 
of  things,  the  reason  of  the  difference  in  men's  capa- 
cities and  lots,  the  way  of  salvation,  etc.  Imagination 
ran  riot  in  inventing  solutions  of  these  problems,  and 
as  the  answers  which  would  satisfy  the  Gnostic  had  no 
real  relation  to  Christianity,  and  could  not  by  any 
rational  process  of  interpretation  be  educed  from 
Scripture,  they  had  to  be  drawn  from  it  by  appljang 
to  the  sacred  text  the  method  of  allegory. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  an  intelligible  account  of 
systems  so  multiform  and  continually  changing  ; 
and  hardly  any  features  can  be  named  common  to  all 
systems.  The  following  may  serve  as  a  general  in- 
dication. At  the  head  is  the  ultimate,  nameless,  un- 
knowable Being,  spoken  of  as  the  "  Abyss."  Forming 
a  connecting  chain  between  Him  and  the  finite  crea- 
tion are  the  "^ons"  (or  "powers,"  "angels,"  etc.) 
proceeding  from  the  highest  Being  by  "emanation." 
These  "aeons,"  taken  together,  form  the  "pleroma," 
or  fulness  of  the  Divine  (His  self-unfoldings).  The 
origin  of  the  world  is  generally  explained  by  a  fall  or 
RUPTURE  in  the  "  pleroma,"  or  the  descent  of  some 
lower  or  inferior  "  seon."  Matter  is  conceived  of  as 
inherently   evil — sometimes  as  independently  exist- 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  73 

ing.  In  all  Gnostic  systems '  a  distinction  is  made 
between  the  Supreme  God  and  the  "Demiurge"  or 
author  of  this  lower  world.  The  latter  is  regarded  as 
an  inferior,  limited,  imperfect  Being,  and  is  identified 
with  THE  God  of  the  Gi.n  Testament  and  of  the  Jews. 
The  God  of  the  Gospel  revealed  by  Jesus  Christ  is 
thus  invariably  contrasted  with  the  God  of  creation 
and  of  the  Old  Testament.  This  might  almost  be  said 
to  be  the  hinge  on  which  Gnosticism  turns.  Jesus 
Himself  is  conceived  of  either  as  a  heavenly  "  a^on  " 
who  descends  to  earth,  clothed  with  the  appearance  of 
a  body — a  phantasmal  body  (doketism),  or  as  an 
earthly  Messiah,  on  whom  the  heavenly  "  seon " 
descends  at  the  Baptism,  but  leaves  Him  again  at 
the  Crucifixion.  Redemption  is  through  knowledge, 
and  is  possible  in  the  full  sense  only  to  the  "spiritual  " 
part  of  mankind  (the  "  Gnostics ").  The  rest  are 
either  "  carnal,"  wholly  incapable  of  salvation,  or 
belong  to  an  intermediate  class  ("  psychical,"  soulish) 
who  have  a  modified  benefit.  In  practical  operation 
Gnosticism  was  sometimes  ascetic  (mortifying  the  body, 
forbidding  marriage,  etc.) ;  sometimes,  as  an  assertion 
of  the  superiority  of  the  spirit  to  the  flesh,  it  passed 
over  into  unrestrained  licentiousness. 

3.  The  Gnostic  Systems.— The  beginnings  of 
Gnosticism  are  already  iiianifest  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment (Colossian  heresy  ;  1  Tim.  i.  vi.  20,  "  gnosis 
falsely  so  called  "  ;  Rev.  ii.  24  ;  St.  John's  epistles). 
As  known  in  Church  history,  we  may  distinguish  the 
early  gnostic  systems,  the  semi-developed  systems 
(Ophite,  etc.),  and  finally  the  developed  systems 
(Basilides,   Valentinus,    Marcion).      At    the   head    of 

^  An  exception  such  as  that  of  Bardesenes  (Syria)  is  hardly 
worth  noting. 


74  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

gnostic  teachers  the  Fathers  always  place  Simon 
Magus.  Claiming  to  be  "the  Power  of  God  which 
is  called  Great  "  (first  and  chief  of  the  emanations, 
Acts  viii.  10),  Simon  had  associated  with  him  a  female 
companion  of  low  character  (Helena),  represented  as 
the  "power"  next  in  rank  to  himself,  from  whom 
proceeded  the  makers  of  the  world.  The  angels 
detained  this  "  seon  "  in  the  lower  world,  and  Simon 
descended  to  redeem  her.  His  disciple  was  Menander. 
A  sect  of  Simonians  lingered  on  till  the  third  century. 
Among  early  Christian  Gnostics  a  prominent  place  is 
given  to  Cerinthus,  the  contemporary  of  St.  John. 
It  is  he  of  whom  the  story  is  told  that  St.  John, 
seeing  him  one  day  in  a  bath  at  Ephesus,  exclaimed  : 
"  Let  us  fly,  lest  the  bath  should  fall  while  Cerinthus, 
the  enemy  of  the  truth,  is  in  it."  He  distinguishes 
between  the  lower,  earthly  Christ  born  of  Joseph  and 
Mary,  and  the  higher,  heavenly  Christ  who  descended 
on  Jesus  at  the  Baptism,  but  left  Him  again  before  His 
death. 1  Carpocrates  is  the  first  of  the  openly  licentious 
Gnostics.  Christ  in  his  system  has  no  essential  pre- 
eminence over  others.  Hence,  in  the  Carpocratian 
worship,  the  image  of  Christ  was  placed  alongside 
those  of  other  philosophers  (first  notice  of  images). 
The  duty  of  the  Gnostic  is  to  show  his  contempt  for 
the  rulers  of  the  world  by  unbridled  indulgence  of  the 
passions.  The  sect  was  continued  by  Epiphanes  (son 
of  Carpocrates)  and  Prodicus. 

The  isemi- developed  Gnosis  is  chiefly  represented  by 
the  remarkable  group  of  systems  known  as  Ophite 
(from  opMn,  serpent).  They  derive  this  name  from 
the  honour  paid  to  the  "  serpent "  as  the  symbol  of 
intelligence.    The  Creator  of  this  world  is  an  ignorant, 

^  St.  John's  epistles  may  have  this  system  in  view. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  75 

imperfect  Being  (faldabaoth  =  "  Son  of  Chaos  "),  who 
thinks  Himself  the  Supreme  God.  It  is  therefore  a 
merit  when  the  serpent  (Gen.  iii.)  persuades  the  first 
pair  into  disobedience  of  Him.  The  most  characteristic 
of  the  multitude  of  sects  bearing  this  name  (Naasenes, 
Peratsc,  Sethites,  etc.)  is  the  Cainites,  who  reversed 
all  the  ordinary  standards  of  moral  judgment,  choosing 
as  their  heroes  the  persons  whom  the  l>ible  condemned 
(Cain,  men  of  Sodom,  Esau,  Korah,  etc.).  The  Syrian 
Gnosis  was  represented  by  Saturninus,  said  to  be  a 
disciple  of  Menander,  whose  system  is  marked  by 
strong  chinlism  and  gloomy  asceticism.  He  is  reputed 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Encratite  heresy  (condemn- 
ing marriage,  etc.).  To  this  party  Tatian  fell  away 
after  the  death  of  Justin,  holding,  it  is  said,  with  the 
other  Gnostics,  a  series  of  "  tneons,"  and  a  distinction 
between  the  Supreme  God  and  the  Demiurge. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  developed  Gnostic  systems  that 
we  naturally  see  the  movement  in  its  perfection.  The 
first  great  name  here  is  Basilides,  of  Alexandria  (reign 
of  Hadrian,  a.d.  117-38),  who,  with  his  son  Isidore, 
taught  a  system  (c/.  Hippolytus),  afterwards  con- 
siderably modified  in  a  popular  direction.  Basilides 
was  a  man  of  powerful  speculative  intellect.  His  first 
principle  is  a  Being  so  abstract  that  thought  cannot 
give  Him  a  name.  The  world  is  continuously  evolved 
from  a  pansperma  or  "  seed  of  the  world,"  in  which 
all  things  were  originally  potentially  contained.  It  is 
ruled  by  two  great  Archons,  who  yet  subserve  the 
designs  of  the  Supreme.  There  are  no  "  seons,"  but 
the  highest  *'  light  "  descends  through  the  successive 
spheres  till  it  rests  on  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  process 
is  complete  when  the  Divine  element  ("  sonship  ")  is 
all  drawn  out  and  restored  to  God  ;  oblivion  then  falls 
on  lower  intelligences.     Many  fine  sayings  are  attri- 


76  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

biited  to  Basilides,  e.g.,  "I  will  say  anything  rather 
than  doubt  the  goodness  of  Providence." 

Valentinus,  likewise  an  Alexandrian,  taught  in 
Rome  (reign  of  Antoninus,  a.d.  138-61).  His  system 
is  as  imaginative  and  poetical  as  that  of  Basilides  is 
speculative.  It  is  a  sort  of  poem  of  the  exile  of  the 
soul.  Sophia,  the  lowest  of  the  "a3ons,"  burns  with 
desire  for  the  knowledge  of  the  Father,  and  nearly 
loses  her  existence  in  seeking  to  obtain  it.  Harmony 
is  only  restored  in  the  Pleroma  through  the  creation 
of  two  new  "seons"  (Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit). 
The  expulsion  of  the  product  of  this  disturbance 
(Achamoth)  leads  to  a  repetition  of  the  tragedy  in  a 
lower  world ;  and  this,  in  turn,  to  the  formation  of 
our  own  world,  in  which,  a  third  time,  the  drama  of 
fall  and  redemption  is  enacted.  The  Redeemer  here 
is  *'  Jesus  the  Saviour" — an  "  seon  "  produced  by  the 
Pleroma  as  a  thank-offering  to  the  Father  for  the 
restoration  of  their  own  harmony.  He  descends  on 
the  earthly  Jesus,  whose  own  body,  however,  is 
wrought  of  higher  substance.  The  disciples  of  Valen- 
tinus (refuted  by  Irenseus)  are  PtoleMzEUs,  Marcus, 
(a  charlatan),  Heracleon,  who  wrote  a  commentary 
on  St.  John,  etc. 

Lastly  we  have  the  system  of  Marcion,  of  Pontus 
(disciple  of  Cerdo),  w^ho  taught  in  Rome  (c.  a.d.  140- 
55).  He  was  later  vigorously  refuted  by  Tertullian. 
Marcion  is  properly  classed  among  Gnostics,  inasmuch 
as  he  makes  an  absolute  distinction  between  the  God 
of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  God  of  the  New 
Testament,  is  dualistic,  and  ascribes  to  Christ  only 
a  seeming  body.  Otherwise  his  system  is  wholly 
unlike  those  of  other  Gnostics.  He  lays,  like  St. 
Paul,  the  stress,  not  on  knowledge,  but  on  faith.  His 
system  may  be  described  as  an  overstrained  Paulinism. 


THE  A(4f]  OF  THE  APOLOCHSTS  77 

The  Pauline  contrasts  of  law  and  Gospel,  sin  and 
grace,  works  and  faith,  are  strained  till  they  break 
asunder,  and  become  irreconcilable  antagonisms.  The 
God  of  the  Old  Testament  (and  of  creation)  is  opposed 
to  the  God  of  the  New  Testament  as  the  "just" 
God  (ignorant,  harsh,  rigorous)  to  the  "  good  "  God, 
whose  nature  is  wholly  love.  Marcion  wrote  a  book 
on  the  Antitheses  between  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New  Testament,  and  drew  up  also  a  Canon  of  Scrip- 
ture (Marcion's  "Canon"),  which  had  but  one  Gospel, 
viz.,  a  mutilated  Luke,  and  ten  epistles  of  St.  Paul. 
In  practice  he  was  rigorously  ascetic.  Only  water, 
e.g.,  was  used  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  Marcion  founded 
a  "Church,"  which  endured  for  some  centuries.  Of 
gnostic  literature  (apart  from  apocryphal  Gospels, 
etc.)  the  only  complete  work  that  remains  to  us  is 
the  book  Pistis  Sophia  (Ophite  or  Valentinian  Gnosis). 
Some  Ophite  MSS.  have  recently  been  discovered. 
For  the  rest  w^e  are  dependent  on  the  descriptions  and 
quotations  in  the  Fathers. 

4.  Montanism. — Montanism  is  another  influence 
that  wrought  powerfully  in  the  Church  from  the 
middle  of  the  second  centur3^  It  is  best  explained  as 
a  REACTION  against  the  growing  rigidity  of  Church 
forms,  the  increasing  laxity  in  Church  morals  and  dis- 
cipline, and  the  dying  out  of  the  spontaneous  element 
in  Church  life  and  worship.  It  had  its  origin  in 
Phrygia,  the  population  of  which  had  naturally  a 
strong  tendency  to  excitement  and  extravagance 
(hence  the  name  Kataphryyimis).  The  essence  of  the 
movement  lay  in  its  claim  to  be  a  new  prophecy.^ 
Montanus  gave  himself  out  as  a  new  organ  of  the 
Spirit.     The  Paraclete  promised  by  the  Saviour  had 

^  The  singular  resemblance  to  the  modem  Irvingism  will  be 
noticed  throughout. 


78  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

come  in  him.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  new  age 
or  dispensation  of  the  Spirit.  With  Montanus  were 
associated  two  prophetesses — Prisca,  or  Priscilla,  and 
Maximilla.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  Montanist 
prophecy  that  it  was  delivered  in  trance  or  ecstasy. 
One  of  the  oracles  of  Montanus  says  :  "  Behold,  the 
man  is  as  a  lyre,  and  I  (the  Spirit)  sweep  over  him 
like  a  plectrum.  The  man  sleeps  and  I  wake."  The 
content  of  the  prophecy  did  not  affect  doctrine,  but 
chiefly  practice.  The  tendency  of  the  sect  was 
severely  ascetic,  and  its  view  of  Church  discipline 
was  of  the  strictest  (no  forgiveness  of  mortal  sin, 
etc.).  Like  most  movements  of  the  kind,  it  was 
strongly  millenarian.  The  place  was  even  named 
where  the  New  Jerusalem  was  to  descend — the  small 
village  of  Pepuza,  in  Phrygia. 

In  its  later  form  Montanism  aimed  more  at  being 
a  simple  movement  of  reform  in  the  direction  of 
stricter  life  and  discipline.  The  antagonism  between 
the  Montanists  and  the  Church  party  grew  naturally 
very  bitter.  The  Montanists  called  themselves 
"  spirituals,"  and  spoke  of  the  Catholics  as  "  psychi- 
cals  ;  "  the  latter  denounced  the  new  prophecy  as 
Satanic  delusion.  Local  synods  were  held  which 
condemned  the  movement  and  excommunicated  its 
adherents.  Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the 
Church  authorities,  however,  Montanism  spread,  and 
attracted  a  good  deal  of  sympathy  from  earnest 
minds.  In  North  Africa  it  must  have  obtained  a 
strong  hold.  Tertullian  of  Carthage  was  its  most 
distinguished  convert  (a.d.  202) — indeed,  its  onl}'- 
great  man.  When,  at  a  council  in  Iconium  (c.  a.d. 
233),  it  was  decided  not  to  recognise  Montanist 
baptism,  the  separation  from  the  Church  was  com- 
plete.    By  Cyprian's  time  (a.d.  250)  Montanism  must 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  APOLOGISTS  79 

have  nearly  died  out  in  Carthage — at  least  he  never 
refers  to  it. 

6.  Apocryphal  Writings. — The  second  century 
was  marked  by  the  production,  chiefly  in  Ebionitic  and 
Gnostic  circles,  of  a  profusion  of  Apocryphal  Gospels, 
Apocalypses,  and  similar  works  ("  Acts  of  Apostles  " 
generally  later).  Such  were  the  Gospel  of  thk 
Hebrews,  1  the  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians,  the  first 
form  of  the  Protevangelism  of  James,  the  Gospel 
OF  Thomas,  the  Apocalypse,  preaching,  and  Gospel 
of  Peter,  etc.  A  fragment  of  the  Apocalypse  of  Peter ^ 
which  stood  in  high  repute  in  the  early  Church,  was 
discovered  in  1892.  The  Gnostics  had  gospels  of 
their  own,  e.g.^  the  Cainites  had  a  Gospel  of  Jude. 
Of  the  above-named,  the  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians  and 
Gospel  of  Thomas  originated  and  were  in  wide  use  in 
Gnostic  circles.  A  special  interest  attaches  to  the 
Gospel  of  Peter,  the  use  of  which  was  forbidden  in 
church  in  the  end  of  the  second  century  by  Serapion, 
Bishop  of  Antioch,  on  account  of  its  dohetic  character. 
An  important  fragment  of  this  gospel  was  discovered 
in  1886  (at  Akhmin,  Upper  Egypt).  It  begins  in  the 
middle  of  the  history  of  the  Passion  and  breaks  off 
in  the  narrative  of  the  Resurrection.  The  gospel 
implies  the  canonical  accounts,  but  greatly  alters  and 
adds  to  them.  It  bears  out  the  charge  of  doketism. 
Jesus  when  crucified  "  held  His  peace  as  though  hav- 
ing no  pain."  His  exclamation  on  the  cross  was, 
"  My  Power,  My  Power,  Thou  hast  forsaken  Me,"  etc. 
The  Gnostic  trail  is  apparent. 

Points  for  inq^uiry  and  sticdy. —Comp&re  the  doctrines  of 
the  Logos  in  the  Apologists  with  that  of  the  Nicene  Creed. 
Show  that  Justin's  writings  presuppose  our  Gospels.     Study 

^  See  Chap.  ii. 


80  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

the  system  of  Valentinus  as  a  type  of  Gnosticism  (Pressense). 
Illustrate  the  gravity  of  the  crisis  of  Gnosticism  from  the 
place  Gnosticism  holds  in  the  works  of  the  early  Catholic 
Fathers.  Note  the  lines  of  Tertullian's  refutation  of  Marcion. 
Show  the  evidence  which  Gnosticism  affords  to  the  growing 
influence  of  Christianity  (Orr).  Cf.  Montanism  and  Irving- 
ism.     Contrast  the  apocryphal  and  canonical  Gospels. 

Books. — Lightfoot  on  "  Colossian  Heresy"  in  Commentary 
on  Colossians ;  Mansel's  Gnostic  Heresies ;  Pressense's  Early 
Years ;  Orr's  Neglected  Factors ;  Sanday's  Gospels  in  Second 
Century ;  Westcott's  Canon ;  Apocryphal  Gospels  and  addi- 
tional volume  in  "  Ante-Nicene  Library  ". 


CHAPTER   VII . 

THE    AGE    OF    THE    OLD   CATHOLIC    FATHERS 
(A.D.  180-250). 

The  death  of  Marcus  Aurelius  proved  liow  superficial 
was  the  ethical  revival  associated  with  his  reign.  The 
accession  of  his  son,  Comniodus  (a.d.  180),  reopened 
the  floodgates  to  the  worst  evils  and  vices.  The 
})eriod  that  followed  was  one  of  frequent  changes  of 
emperors,  of  rampant  military  licence,  of  much  dis- 
order and  disorganisation  in  the  state.  This  was  to 
the  advantage  of  the  Christians,  in  so  far  as  it  drew 
away  attention  from  them,  and  left  the  emperors  no 
time  to  concert  measures  to  their  hurt.  But  it  told 
also  to  their  disadvantage,  in  placing  them  more  at  the 
mercy  of  popular  tumult  and  of  governors  unfavour- 
ably disposed.  The  very  calamities  of  the  empire 
were  made  a  ground  of  accusation  against  them.  "  If 
the  Tiber  overflows  the  walls,"  says  Tertullian,  "  if 
the  Nile  does  not  irrigate  the  fields,  if  the  skies  are 
shut,  if  the  earth  quakes,  if  there  is  a  famine  or 
a  pestilence,  immediately  the  cry  is  raised,  'The 
Christians  to  the  lion  '  "  (A/>ol.,  40).  Nevertheless, 
the  Church  during  this  period  made  unprecedented 
progress,  and,  under  the  guidance  of  the  great  anti- 
Gnostic  Fathers  (Irenaius,  Tertullian,  Clement,  Origen, 
etc.),  assumed  definitely  the  character  of  a  Church 
Catholic  and  Apostolic. 

(81)  6 


82  THE  EAKLY  CHURCH 

1.  From  Commodus  to  Severus— The  Severian 
Persecution. — Daring  the  evil  reign  of  Commodus 
no  systematic  attempt  was  made  to  molest  the 
Christians.  Marcia,  the  emperor's  mistress,  was  even 
friendly  to  the  Church,  and  interested  herself  on  its 
behalf,  e.g.^  in  procuring  the  release  of  certain  con- 
fessors from  the  Sardinian  mines.  Yet,  as  illustrating 
the  general  insecurity  above  referred  to,  Clement, 
writing  shortly  after  the  close  of  this  reign,  could 
say,  "  Many  martyrs  are  daily  burned,  crucified  or 
beheaded  before  our  eyes "  {Strom.^  ii.  20).  Apol- 
lonius,  a  distinguished  senator,  suffered  in  this  reign.^ 
The  murder  of  Commodus  was  succeeded  by  a  season 
of  confusion,  calamity,  and  bloodshed.  Pertinax  was 
killed  after  a  reign  of  a  few  months.  Then  followed 
a  scene  of  degradation  such  as  the  empire  had  never 
yet  witnessed.  The  imperial  office  was  put  up  to 
public  auction  on  the  ramparts  of  Rome,  and  unblush- 
ingly  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  purchaser, 
JuLiANUs,  did  not  keep  his  dearly-bought  honours  long. 
The  legions  rejected  him,  and  out  of  the  anarchy  that 
ensued  Septimius  Severus,  the  Pannonian  general, 
emerged  as  the  strongest  man. 

The  eighteen  years'  reign  of  this  emperor  (a.d.  193- 
211)  proved  him  to  be  an  able  and  vigorous,  if  also  a 
stern  ruler.  He  was  at  first  favourably  affected  to 
the  Christians ;  his  Syrian  wife,  Julia  Domna,  a  lady 
of  literary  and  eclectic  disposition,  was  also  friendly. 
It  is  not  clear  what  led  to  his  change  of  policy.  He 
may  have  been  influenced  by  his  growing  dislike  of 
illegal  associations,  or  by  cases  of  insubordination  like 
that  related  by  TertuUian  (On  the  Soldier'' s  Crown), 

^  His  Acts  have  recently  been  recovered.  The  Scillitan 
martyrs  in  North  Africa  (c/.  Neander)  are  now  also  referred 
to  the  reign  of  Commodus. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS    83 

where  a  soldier  refused  to  wear  the  ordinary  laurel 
garland  in  going  up  to  receive  his  donative  from  the 
emperor.  In  any  case,  in  a.d.  202,  he  issued  an  edict,^ 
forbidding  under  severe  penalties  conversion  to  either 
Judaism  or  Christianity.  Thus  was  initiated  what  is 
reckoned  as  the  fifth  persecution,  though  we  have 
interesting  proof  from  a  tract  of  Tertullian,  To  the 
Mart  [ITS  (before  a.d.  202),  that  even  prior  to  the 
publication  of  this  edict  martyrdom  was  far  from 
unknown.  The  severity  of  this  persecution  seems  to 
have  fallen  chiefly  on  Egypt  and  North  Africa,  and 
some  noble  martyr  incidents  are  recorded  from  these 
regions.  A  chief  seat  of  the  persecution  was  Alex- 
andria. Leonidas,  the  father  of  Origen,  was  put  to 
death  at  this  time  by  beheading ;  Origen  himself, 
then  a  youth  of  seventeen,  would  have  perished  also 
had  not  his  mother  forcibly  prevented  him  from 
giving  himself  up.  Another  conspicuous  instance 
was  that  of  the  maiden  PoTAMiiENA,  who,  with  her 
mother,  Marcella,  was,  after  many  tortures,  burned 
to  death  with  boiling  pitch.  Her  constancy  was  the 
occasion  of  the  conversion  of  others,  among  them  of 
Basilides,  the  officer  in  charge. 

To  North  Africa — Carthage  or  Tuburbium — be- 
long the  famous  martyrdoms  of  Perpetua  and  her 
COMPANIONS,  of  which  an  account  is  preserved  written 
partly  by  Perpetua  herself.  Perpetua  was  a  young 
married  lady,  of  noble  rank,  recently  a  mother,  who, 
for  her  faith,  was  thrown  into  a  loathsome  prison  with 
four  companions.  One  was  a  slave  girl,  Felicitas  ;  the 
three  others  were  youths — Revocatus,  Saturninus,  and 
Secundulus.  All  were  catechumens,  and  were  baptised 
in  prison.     Perpetua's  father  was  a  pagan,  and  sought 

^  Or  rescript :  thus  Neumann. 


84  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

by  the  most  heartrending  entreaties  to  induce  her  to 
recant.  She  and  her  companions  stood  firm,  and  were 
condemned  to  die  at  an  approaching  festival.  In 
prison  Felicitas  was  overtaken  by  the  pangs  of  mater- 
nity. When  asked  how  she  would  bear  the  keener 
pain  of  being  torn  by  the  wild  beasts,  she  answered, 
"It  is  I  who  bear  my  present  sufferings,  but  then 
there  will  be  One  within  me  to  suffer  for  me,  because 
I  too  shall  suffer  for  Him."  The  men  were  torn  to 
pieces  in  the  amphitheatre  by  wild  beasts  ;  the  women 
were  exposed  in  a  net  to  be  tossed  by  a  cow,  and 
ultimately  killed  by  the  swords  of  the  gladiators.  The 
document  which  tells  the  pathetic  story  has  in  it  a 
tinge  of  Montanistic  enthusiasm,  and  contains  the  first 
traces  of  prayers  for  the  dead.^ 

2.  Succeeding  Emperors  —  The  Persecution 
under  Maximin. — The  persecution  went  on  through 
the  whole  reign  of  Severus ;  in  the  later  stages  of  it  some 
of  Origen's  disciples  suffered.  That  it  continued  into 
the  reign  of  his  son,  Caracalla  (a.d.  211-17),  is  evident 
from  Tertullian's  address  To  Scapula,  in  which  Severus 
is  spoken  of  as  already  dead.  But  that  "  common 
enemy  of  mankind"  was  too  much  absorbed  in  his 
vices  to  trouble  about  the  Christians,  and  persecution 
gradually  stopped.  Under  the  wicked  and  effeminate 
Syrian  emperor  Elagabalus,  nephew  of  Severus  (a.d. 
218-22),  the  Christians  were  also  allowed  peace.  Ela- 
gabalus had  been  high-priest  of  the  Sun  at  Emesa, 
in  Syria,  and  now  imported  into  Rome  the  lewdest 
excesses  of  the  Syrian  Sun  and  Astarte  worship.  He 
had  a  settled  design  of  blending  all  worships  with  his 
own,  and,  as   a  step  to  this,  every  foreign   religion, 


^  There    is   a   trace   as    early   as   Hernias   of   purgatorial, 
suffering. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS     85 

including  Christianity,  was  tolerated.  Other  influences 
may  have  been  at  work,  for  we  find  Hii>polytus 
addressing  a  treatise  to  Julia  Aquila,  tlie  second  wife 
of  the  emperor.  She  may  therefore  be  presumed  not 
to  have  been  unfriendly  to  Christianity.  Elagabalus 
was  cut  off  before  the  full  effect  of  his  plans  could 
be  seen,  and  the  Church  for  the  first  time  enjoyed  a 
season  of  real  favour  and  protection  under  his  gentle 
and  virtuous  cousin,  Alexander  Severus  (a.d.  222-35). 

Alexander  profitably  divided  the  hours  of  his  day 
between  private  devotion,  assiduous  attention  to 
public  business,  the  cultivation  of  his  mind  through 
literature  and  philosophy,  manly  exercises  and  rational 
and  refined  intercourse  in  the  evenings.  In  religion 
he  was  an  eclectic.  The  bust  of  ('hrist  was  placed  in 
his  private  chapel  alongside  of  those  of  other  persons 
held  in  special  reverence— Abraham,  Orpheus,  Apol- 
lonius,  etc.;  and  he  had  inscribed  on  the  walls  of  his 
palace  and  public  monuments  the  maxim,  "  What  ye 
would  not  have  others  do  to  you,  do  ye  not  to  them." 
This  maxim,  it  is  said,  he  was  constantly  repeating. 
Under  the  reign  of  such  an  emperor  the  position  of 
Christianity  was  practically  that  of  a  rrligio  licita. 
The  mother  of  Alexander,  Julia  Mammeea,  who 
exercised  a  considerable  influence  on  the  government, 
was  also  deeply  interested  in  Christianity,  and  invited 
Origen  to  confer  with  her  at  Antioch.  A  reign  like 
Alexander's,  however,  was  naturally  displeasing  to  the 
rude  military,  and  an  unfortunate  Persian  war  led  to 
his  murder,  and  to  the  accession  of  the  Thracian 
savage,  Maximin  (a.d.  235-38).  Under  this  tyrant 
occuiTed  what  is  known  as  the  sixth  persecution. 

Maximin  seems  to  have  been  moved  in  his  rage 
against  the  Church  chiefly  by  hatred  of  his  prede- 
cessor.    His  acts  were  directed  at  first  only  against 


86  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

the  heads  of  the  Churches.  Origen,  as  a  friend  of 
JuHa  Mammaea,  was  marked  as  a  victim,  and  had  to 
flee  from  Caesarea.  Anti-Christian  fury,  however, 
once  let  loose,  did  not  readily  confine  itself  within 
limits,  and  the  Church  suffered  severely  in  different 
places,  especially  in  Cappadocia  and  Pontus,  where 
destructive  earthquakes  had  awakened  the  passions 
of  the  populace.  A  beautiful  work  of  Origen  on 
Martyrdom  relates  to  this  persecution. 

The  times  of  confusion  that  followed — the  reigns  of 
the  TWO  GoRDiANs,  of  Balbinus  and  Maximus,  of 
GoRDiAN  TIL  (a.d.  238-44),  yield  nothing  for  our 
purpose.  During  this  period  the  Christians  enjoyed 
a  respite,  which  was  continued  and  even  confirmed  by 
the  next  emperor,  Philip  the  Arabian  (a.d.  244-49). 
Philip  was  the  son  of  a  Bedouin  robber-chief — called, 
therefore,  "  Philip  the  Robber  " — but  he  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  figuring  with  some  ecclesiastical  writers  as 
the  first  Christian  emperor.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
Severa  had  correspondence  with  Origen.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  looked  with  very  favourable  eyes  on 
Christianity,  without,  however,  showing  any  trace  of 
its  influence  in  his  public  conduct.  At  the  great 
secular  games,  e.g.,  in  celebration  of  the  completion  of 
the  thousandth  year  of  Rome's  existence — which  was 
the  great  feature  of  his  reign — the  ceremonies  were 
entirely  pagan.  Philip  was  slain  in  conflict  with 
Decius  (a.d.   249). 

3.  Progress  of  Christianity  in  this  Period. 
— The  astonishingly  rapid  spread  of  Christianity  in 
this  age  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  about  it.^ 
The  apologetic  writers,  e.f/.,  Tertullian  and  Origen,  give 
the  strongest  expression  to  their  consciousness  of  com- 

1  For  fuller  details,  see  Neglected  Factors,  etc. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATIIKRS     87 

ing  victory.  "  Men  cry  out,"  says  Tertiillian,  "tliat 
the  state  is  besieged  ;  the  (.'hristiaiis  are  in  the  fiel<ls, 
in  the  ports,  in  the  islands.  They  mourn,  as  for  a 
loss,  that  every  sex,  age,  condition  and  even  rank  is 
going  over  to  this  sect "  (ApoL,  i.).  Origen,  in  the 
reign  of  Philip,  writes,  "  Every  form  of  religion  will 
be  destroyed  except  the  religion  of  Christ,  which  will 
alone  prevail.  And  indeed  it  will  one  day  triumph, 
as  its  principles  take  possession  of  the  minds  of  men 
more  and  more  every  day  "  (Against  Celsus,  viii.  68). 
With  every  allowance  for  rhetorical  exaggeration,  it  is 
impossible  to  doubt  that  Christianity  was  taking  root 
throughout  the  empire  with  a  rapidity  and  vigour 
that  astonished  both  friends  and  foes.  The  Church 
had  spread,  in  greater  or  less  measure,  from  Britain  in 
the  west  to  the  Tigris  in  the  east,  from  the  Rhine  in 
the  north  to  the  Libyan  desert  in  the  south.  It  had 
extended  itself  in  Gaul  and  Spain  and  North  Africa, 
in  Asia  Minor,  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Arabia.  It  had 
penetrated  across  the  Danube  into  the  tribes  of  the 
barbarians.  It  included  not  onl}^  great  numbers  of 
the  population,  but  persons  of  all  ranks  in  society. 
There  were  Christians  of  high  standing  in  the  house- 
holds of  the  emperors  ;  the  rebukes  administered  by 
Tertullian  and  Clement  to  the  wealthy  and  luxurious 
in  the  Churches  prove,  what  other  testimonies  bear 
out,  that  many  in  these  classes  had  received  the 
Gospel. 

The  very  suddenness  with  which  the  existence  of 
large  and  influential  Churches  like  those  of  Carthage, 
Alexandria  and  Lyons  bursts  upon  us  in  this  period 
is  evidence  of  the  marvellous  energy  of  propagation 
Christianity  was  displaying.  It  is  not,  therefore,  to 
be  wondered  at  that  the  writers  of  the  period  point 
exultantly  to  this  astonishing  progress  and  draw  from 


88  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

it  an  argument  for  the  divineness  of  their  faith.  The 
BOAST  OF  Tertullian  in  his  Ajwlogy  is,  it  should  be 
remembered,  that  of  a  contemporary  :  "  We  are  but  of 
yesterday,  and  yet  we  have  filled  every  place  belong- 
ing to  you — cities,  islands,  castles,  towns,  assemblies, 
your  very  camps,  your  tribes,  companies,  palace, 
senate,  forum  ;  we  leave  you  your  temples  only.  .  .  . 
All  your  ingenious  cruelties  can  accomplish  nothing. 
Our  number  increases  the  more  you  destroy  us.  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  their  seed  "  {37,  50).  How- 
ever rhetorically  coloured,  there  must  have  been  a 
strong  basis  of  truth  in  such  representations  to  pro- 
cure for  them  any  acceptance. 

^.  Development  of  the  Idea  of  the  Old  Catholic 
Church. — In  its  conflicts  with  Gnosticism  and  Mon- 
tanism — especially  the  former — the  Church  was  mean- 
while undergoing  an  internal  development  which 
more  than  paralleled  its  marvellous  outward  extension. 
In  combating  Gnosticism  the  Fathers  were  not  waging 
war  with  an  ordinary  foe.  They  had,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  to  deal  with  a  system  which  spurned  the 
literal  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  facts,  and,  under 
pretence  of  a  higher  wisdom,  transformed  them  into  a 
phantasmagoria  of  its  own  creation  ;  which  attacked 
the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith — the 
identity  of  the  God  of  Creation  and  the  God  of  Re- 
demption, of  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
God  of  the  New  Testament,  the  true  humanity  of  the 
Redeemer,  the  reality  of  sin  and  atonement,  etc.  In 
waging  this  conflict,  moreover,  they  laboured  under 
the  very  peculiar  difhculty  that  there  was  as  yet  no 

UNIVERSALLY  RECOGNISED  STANDARD  OF  TRUTH  tO    gO  by 

— no  fixed  canon  of  Scripture,  no  fixed  creed,  no  fixed 
court  of  appeal  in  matters  of  faith  such  as  the  council 
afterwards  became. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS    89 

What  bulwark  was  to  be  reared  against  this  inno- 
vating tide  of  speculation  ?  Dr.  Hatch  has  pointed 
out  that  the  idea  struck  out  by  the  Churcli  as  giving  it 
firm  footing  in  this  sea  of  contnjversy  was  that  of  the 
"Apostolic."  That  was  true  which  was  Apostolic; 
that  was  false  —  at  least  not  authoritative  —  which 
could  not  claim  apostolic  sanction.  This  thought  was 
applied  by  the  Fathers  of  the  age  specially  in  three 
ways.^  They  applied  it  (1)  to  an  apostolic  collection  of 
Scriptures — the  idea  of  a  New  Testament  Canon.  We 
have  seen  that  the  Gospels  were  already  read  in 
Justin's  day  in  the  ordinary  service  of  the  Church  ; 
collections  of  apostolic  letters  were  also  very  early 
formed  (2  Pet.  iii.  16;  c/.  free  use  of  epistles  in 
Poly  carp,  etc.).  Such  collections,  however,  grew  up 
naturally,  informally,  with  a  view  to  edification,  and 
not  with  the  idea  of  forming  what  w^e  mean  by  a 
canon  of  Scripture  for  the  whole  Church.  The  con- 
flict with  Gnosticism  gave  a  new  turn  to  this  con- 
ception. The  first  attempt  at  a  formal  canon  of 
New  Testament  Scripture  we  know  of  was  the  muti- 
lated canon  of  Marcion.^  Other  Gnostic  and  Ebionitic 
sects  were  flooding  the  Church  with  apocryphal  writ- 
ings. LTnder  these  circumstances,  as  well  as  to  find 
a  solid  basis  from  w^iich  to  repel  the  assaults  of  oppo- 
nents, it  was  of  the  first  importance  for  the  Church, 
not  only  to  gather  the  true  Scriptures  together,  but 
to  lay  emphasis  on  that  which  gave  them  their  claim 
to  authority.  This  was  their  apostolic  origin  and 
character,  i.e.,  their  origin  either  directly  from  apostles 
or  from  men  immediately  belonging  to  the  first  apos- 
tolic circles,  and  having  apostolic  sanction  for  their 
work.     Thus  sprang  up  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second 

^  Thus  Harnack.  -  See  above,  Chapter  VI. 


90  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

century  the  conception  of  a  definite  canon  ^  of  New- 
Testament  Scripture — of  a  "  New  Testament,"  as  it 
begins  expressly  to  be  called,  which  takes  its  place 
beside  the  "Old  Testament"  as  of  equal  validity 
and  authority  with  it.  Lists  are  now  drawn  up  of 
the  sacred  books,  e.g.,  the  Canon  of  Muratori  ;  and 
the  Fathers  show  the  clearest  consciousness  of  deal- 
ing with  a  code  of  writings  of  inspired  character  and 
authority.  TertuUian  is  the  first  to  use  the  name 
"  New  Testament,"  though  the  designation  seems  im- 
plied earlier  in  certain  expressions  of  Melito  of  Sardis ; 
Irenreus  usually  speaks  simply  of  the  "  Scriptures." 

The  category  of  the  apostolic  was  applied  (2)  to  an 
apostolic  "Rule  of  Faith" — the  idea  of  a  traditional 
CREED.  It  was  soon  manifest  that  in  controversy  with 
Gnostics  the  appeal  to  Scripture  was  not  always  so 
conclusive  as  it  seemed.  Even  where  Scripture  was 
not  rejected  the  Gnostics  had  their  own  way  of  inter- 
preting it.  Their  use  of  allegorical  methods  (to  which 
the  Fathers  themselves  gave  too  much  countenance) 
enabled  them  to  get  from  the  text  as  much  support 
for  their  theories  as  they  pleased.  The  question  was 
no  longer  as  to  the  canon  of  Scripture,  but  as  to  the 
sense  to  be  drawn  from  Scripture  when  they  had  it. 
It  was  here  that  the  Fathers  stepped  back  from  the 
written  Word  to  the  constant  and  steadfast  tradition 
of  the  truth  which  had  been  maintained  in  the  Church 
since  apostolic  days.  From  earliest  times  the  Church 
had  employed  a  simple  baptismal  confession.  This 
had  become  enlarged  till  in  the  second  century  it 
assumed  substantially  the  outline  of  our  present 
Apostles'  Creed.  A  form  of  this  kind  was  certainly 
in  use  in  the  Church  of  Rome  before  the  middle  of 

^  The  term  itself  is  later. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS     91 

the  second  century  ;  and  the  forms  in  use  in  other 
Churches  show,  with  variation  and  paraplirase,  essen- 
tial agreement.  This  form,  gradually  crystallising 
into  settled  shape,  was  laid  hold  of  by  the  Church 
and  erected  into  a  "rule  of  faith,"  which,  standing 
behind  Scripture,  could  be  employed  as  a  check  on 
the  wanton  licence  of  Gnostic  interpretation.  It  was 
not  intended  to  supersede  Scripture,  but  to  corroborate 
it ;  still  it  marks  the  introduction  of  that  principle  of 
"  tradition,"  as  regulative  of  faith,  which,  at  a  further 
remove  from  the  primitive  source,  became  the  parent 
of  so  many  abuses. 

Finally,  this  thought  of  the  apostolic  was  applied 
(3)  to  an  apostolic  succession  of  office-bearers  in 
the  Church — the  idea  of  a  continuous  historic  epis- 
copate, viewed  as  depository  and  guardian  of  the 
aforesaid  tradition.  It  was  not  enough  that  there 
should  be  apostolic  tradition  ;  there  must  be  some 
guarantee  for  the  secure  transmission  and  purity  of 
the  tradition.  This  was  presumed  to  be  found  in  the 
continuous  succession  of  bishops  from  the  days  of  the 
apostles.  Lists  of  the  Succession  of  bishops  in  the 
greater  Churches  are  carefully  given  by  the  Fathers 
in  proof  that  this  transmission  of  apostolic  tradition  is 
a  possibility  and  reality.  There  is  clearly  here  an 
unhistorical  element ;  for  it  has  already  been  shown 
that  bishops,  in  the  sense  supposed,  do  not  go  back  to 
apostolic  days.^  It  is  in  this  form,  i.e.,  as  a  guarantee 
for  the  purity  of  tradition,  that  the  doctrine  of  an 
"Apostolic  Succession"  of  bishops  first  enters.  It 
has  not  yet  the  sacerdotal  associations  of  the  next 
age.      Already,    however,    there    has    now  distinctly 

1  Cf.  Mr.  Gore's  admission,  above  noted,  p.  51.  The 
bishops  in  Ignatius  are  never  represented  as  successors 
of  the  apostles. 


92  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

shaped  itself,  as  the  result  of  the  above  processes,  the 
idea  of  a  Catholic  Church,  i.e.,  a  Church  resting  on 
the  fides  catholica  et  apostolica,  and  finding  its  unity 
in  the  episcopate,  which  is  regarded  also  as  the  de- 
pository and  guardian  of  its  sacred  tradition.  From 
this  time,  accordingly,  the  term  "  Catholic  Church  " 
— already  found  in  Ignatius,  but  simply  in  the  sense 
of  "universal  " — gets  into  currency  (Tertullian,  Cle- 
ment, Muratorian  fragments,  etc.).  It  needs  only  the 
Cyprianic  idea  of  the  priestly  character  of  its  clergy 
to  complete  it. 

Points  far  inquiry  aiid  study. — Illustrate  the  Severian 
persecution  from  the  writings  of  Tertullian  (c/.  Neander's 
Antignosticus) .  Read  the  full  story  of  Perpetua  and  her 
companions.  Collect  the  evidences  of  the  remarkable  spread 
of  Christianity  in  this  period.  Show  the  extent  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  New  Testament  implied  in  the  writings 
of  Irenseus,  Tertullian,  etc.  Compare  the  different  early 
versions  of  the  traditional  "  Rule  of  Faith  "  (Schaff,  Zahn). 
Study  the  earliest  form  of  the  doctrine  of  "  Apostolic  Suc- 
cession "  in  Irenseus  (iii.,  2,  3,  4  ;  iv.,  26)  and  Tertullian  {On 
Prescription,  32,  etc.). 

Books. — For  history,  Gibbon,  Milman,  Neander's  Anti- 
gnosticus  (Bohn) ;  Orr's  Neglected  Factors;  Zahn's  Tlie 
Apostles'  Creed  (also  Schaff,  Swete,  etc.). 


Chapter  viii. 

'THE  AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS - 
(Continued),     (a.d.  180-250). 

The  chief  interest  of  the  period  whose  external  history 
and  internal  development  we  have  sought  to  describe 
is  connected  with  the  names  of  its  great  teachers. 
These  form  a  galaxy  of  rare  brilliance.  The  study  of 
their  works  is  at  the  same  time  the  study  of  the 
theology  and  literature  of  the  age. 

1.  Irenaeus  of  Gaul. — The  personal  notices  of  this 
great  Father  are  scanty.  He  was  born  about  a.d.  120, 
perhaps  a  little  later  ;  was  a  native  of  Asia  Minor  ;  in 
early  life  was  a  disciple  of  Polycarp,  the  disciple  of 
St.  John.  In  an  epistle  to  his  fellow-pupil  Flornius, 
who  had  lapsed  into  Gnosticism,  he  speaks  of  the 
vivid  recollection  he  retained  of  Polycarp's  discourses, 
and  how  they  agreed  with  what  was  related  in  the 
Scriptures.  He  was  a  presbyter  in  Lyons  during 
the  persecution  under  Marcus  Aurelius  in  a.d.  177.^ 
The  Montanist  controversy  was  raging,  and  Irentcus 
bore  an  intercessory  letter  on  behalf  of  the  Montanists 
from  the  martyrs  to  Eleutherus,  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
{Eus.,  V.  4). 

After  the  martyrdom  of  the  aged  Pothinus,  Irenaeus, 
as  the  fittest  man,  was  chosen  bishop  in  his  place.  ^ 

^  See  above,  page  59. 

"^  Lyons  would  appear  at  this  time  to  have  been  the  only 
bishopric  in  Gaul. 

(93) 


94  THE  EARLY  CHUECH 

The  only  other  occasion  on  which  he  comes  into  view 
is  a  few  years  later  (a.d.  190-94)  in  connection  with 
the  action  of  Victor  of  Rome  in  the  Quarto-Deciman 
controversy  (see  below).  The  date  of  his  death  is  un- 
certain (a.d.  202-3  ?).  All  through  Irenseus  showed 
himself  a  man  of  peaceful  and  conciliatory  spirit — in 
marked  agreement,  Eusebius  says,  with  his  name  (  = 
peaceful). 

His  one  literary  monument  (besides  fragments)  is 
his  great  work,  in  five  books,  "Against  Heresies," 
directed  specially  against  the  Valentinians  (a.d.  180- 
90).  It  exists  only  in  an  early  Latin  translation ; 
portions  of  the  Greek,  however,  are  preserved  by 
other  writers.  The  author's  theological  opinions 
are  developed  incidentally,  but  sufficiently  to  show 
that  Irenaeus  had  a  theology  of  a  very  definite  and 
organic  character.  The  central  thought  in  his  con- 
ception of  Christianity  is  the  incarnation.  Creation 
needs  the  incarnation  for  its  perfecting.  Only  through 
the  entrance  of  the  Word  (Logos)  into  humanity  could 
man  be  led  to  his  destination  as  a  son  of  God. 
Irenseus  has  no  dubiety  as  to  the  eternal  existence  of 
the  Word.  "  The  Son  has  always  existed  with  God, 
has  always  revealed  the  Father,  has  always  revealed 
the  full  Godhead  "  (Harnack).  Redemption  is  brought 
under  his  favourite  idea  of  a  recapitulation  of 
humanity  in  Christ.  Christ  is  the  compendium  of  the 
race  ;  sums  up  the  nature,  the  experiences,  the  history 
of  mankind  in  Himself.  His  obedience  retracts  the 
disobedience  of  the  Fall.  As  our  Head  he  wins  for  us 
a  complete  victory  over  Satan.  He  enters  into  our  lot 
and  doom  as  sinners,  and  ransoms  us  by  His  death. 
A  trace  only  is  discernible  of  the  theory  afterwards 
developed  that  Satan  through  the  Fall  obtained  rights 
over  men  which  had  to  be  respected.     In  eschatology 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS    95 

Irenrciis  is  crudely  Chiliastic  (Antichrist,  the  first 
resurrection,  the  New  Jerusalem,  the  1,000  years'  reign, 
etc.).  His  SACRAJiENTAL  TEACHING  conforms  to  the 
now  well-established  Catholic  type.  The  Eucharistic 
elements,  e.g.,  are  "  antitypes  "  of  tlie  Lord's  body  and 
blood;  yet  there  is  a  real  mystical  union  of  these 
elements  with  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  so  that  in 
receiving  them  the  communicant  is  nourished  by  the 
latter. 

2.  TertuUian  of  Carthage.— Tertullian  is  the  first 
of  the  great  Latin  Fathers,  and  founder  of  Latin  theo- 
logy. His  general  place  in  the  history  is  about 
TWENTY  YEARS  AFTER  Irenjius.  He  follows  Ircnajus 
closely  in  his  antignostic  polemic  and  doctrine  of  the 
Church.  The  two  men,  however,  are  as  ditferent  as 
can  well  be  conceived.  The  calm,  temperate  spirit 
of  Iremeus  bears  no  resemblance  to  the  fiery,  impetu- 
ous NATURE  of  the  North  African  Father.  No  impartial 
person  will  doubt  his  deep  or  sincere  piety;  yet  the 
fire  within  him  burned  often  with  a  murky  flame. 
Tertullian  was  born  at  Carthage  probably  about  a.d. 
160.  His  father  is  said  to  have  been  a  proconsular 
centurion,  and  he  was  educated  for  the  law.  His  life 
till  manhood  was  spent  in  heathenism,  but  its  follies 
and  pleasures  left  his  soul  unsatisfied.  His  conver- 
sion TO  Christianity  may  have  been  about  a.d.  192. 
He  probably  became  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  at 
Carthage.  We  know  that  he  \vas  married,  and  that 
his  wife  also  was  a  Christian. 

The  decisive  event  in  his  career  was  his  conversion 
TO  Montanism  (c.  a.d.  202).  Thereafter  his  relations 
with  the  Church  were  embittered,  and  he  withdrew 
from  its  communion  [Against  Fraxeas,  1).  It  is  doubt- 
ful, however,  how  far  this  withdrawal  went.  It  is 
certain   that    Tertullian  always   regarded    himself  as 


96  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

belonging  in  a  true  sense  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
there  are  evidences  that  towards  the  end  of  his  life 
the  asperities  softened.  His  death  is  placed  a.d.  220- 
40.  Whatever  his  faults  of  temperament,  Tertul- 
lian's  ability  as  a  Christian  advocate  is  second  to  none. 
His  LITERARY  ACTIVITY  was  prodigious.  His  pages 
sparkle  with  brilliant  and  original  thoughts  ;  are,  in- 
deed, for  vigour,  terseness  and  mastery  of  literary  ex- 
pression unsurpassed  in  ]3atristic  literature.  Cyprian's 
admiration  of  him  was  such  that  it  is  said  a  day 
never  passed  without  his  calling  for  some  of  his  works, 
saying,  "Give  me  the  master."  His  w^ritings  are 
usually  divided  into  those  written  hefore  and  those 
written  after  he  became  a  Montanist,  though  it  is 
doubtful  to  which  class  some  are  to  be  referred. 

To  the  FIRST  PERIOD  (a.d.  197-202)  belong  the  tract 
To  the  Martyrs  (a.d.  197),  the  Apology  (a.d.  198-99), 
to  which  two  books.  To  the  Nationu,  are  related 
(possibly  as  an  earlier  sketch),  the  beautiful  tract  On 
the  Witness  of  the  Soul  (the  germ  of  which  lies  in  "  the 
soul  naturally  Christian  "  of  the  Apology,  17),  with  a 
number  of  short  treatises — "Tracts  for  the  Times,"  as 
they  have  been  happily  called — ^ dealing  with  questions 
arising  out  of  the  life  of  the  time,  and  with  practical 
subjects  ie.g.^  on  The  Spectacles  ;  on  Idolatry  ;  on  2^he 
Att/re  of  Women  ;  two  treatises  To  my  Wife,  discussing 
second  marriage  ;  on  Penitence,  Prayer,  Patience,  etc.). 
These  shorter  pieces  especially  exhibit  a  mixture  of 
argument,  wdt,  sarcasm,  raillery,  very  characteristic 
of  Tertullian.  Though  not  yet  a  Montanist,  his 
standard  of  judgment  is  always  severe. 

The  SECOND  PERIOD  (after  a.d.  202)  reflects  his 
changed  attitude  to  the  Church,  and  shows  Tertullian 
at  his  best  and  his  worst.  The  resources  of  his 
rhetoric,   his  brilliant  antitheses,  his   Christian  zeal, 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS    97 

his  powerful  and  often  convincing  reasoning,  com- 
mand admiration  ;  on  the  other  hand,  his  faults  of 
TEMPER  AND  ARGUMENT  are  oftcu  glaring.  Here,  again, 
we  have  to  distinguish  between  his  shorter  occa- 
sional pieces  called  forth  by  special  circumstances  (as, 
e.g.,  on  The  Soldier  s  Croicn,  on  Flight  from  Persecu- 
tion, on  The  Veiling  of  Virgins,  on  Single  Marriage^ 
on  Fasting,  etc.),  and  his  longer  controversial  works. 
The  principal  of  these  are  his  great  work,  in  five  books. 
Against  Marcion,  and  his  treatise  Against  Praxeas  ^ 
(other  works.  Against  Hermogenes,  Against  the  Valen- 
tinians,  etc.).  Reference  should  be  made  also  to  his 
forcible  tractate  To  Scapula  (the  proconsul),  in  which, 
A.D.  212,  he  powerfully  champions  the  cause  of  the 
w^hole  of  the  Christians. 

TertuUian's  abiding  services  to  the  Church  are  those 
which  he  rendered  as  apologist  and  theologian.  The 
APOLOGY  of  Tertullian  is  by  universal  consent  regarded 
as  his  masterpiece.  It  is  addressed  to  the  emperor, 
and  is  a  noble  piece  of  pleading.  The  opening  chap- 
ters are  introductory  ;  they  urge  that  Christianity 
is  hated  because  it  is  unknown.  The  body  of  the 
Apology  is  divided  into  two  parts — ^the  first  refuting 
the  charges  against  the  Christians  (first  the  popular 
calumnies  of  killing  infants,  practising  incest  in 
their  assemblies,  etc.,  then  the  capital  charges  of 
irreligion  and  disloyalty  to  the  emperor) ;  the  second 
describing  in  beautiful  words  the  simple,  spiritual,  and 
orderly  character  of  the  Christian  worship,  and  the 
real  nature  of  the  much-maligned  love-feast.  The 
closing  portion  replies  to  objectors,  and  reminds  of 
coming  judgment.  As  a  theologian  Tertullian  left 
his  deep  stamp  on   after  thinking.       He  practically 

1  See  below,  Chap.  x. 
7 


98  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

created  the  Latin  ecclesiastical  tongue,  and  gave  to 
theology  many  of  the  terms  which  have  become  its 
permanent  possession  (<?.^.,  one  substance,  three 
persons,  satisfaction,  merit,  New  Testament,  rule  of 
faith,  etc.).  On  the  Trinity  he  followed  the  views 
of  the  apologists  in  not  attributing  to  the  Son  an 
eternal  personal  existence.  The  Trinity  is  an  internal 
Divine  "  economy  "  or  dispensation,  with  a  view  to 
creation  and  redemption.  He  follows  Irenoeus  pretty 
closely  on  the  doctrines  of  Man  and  the  Incarnation. 
Man  was  made  after  the  image  of  the  future  Incarnate 
One  (Chrlsti  futuri  in  came).  The  earlier  appear- 
ances of  the  Son  to  the  patriarchs  are  "  rehearsals" 
of  the  Incarnation.  Tertullian  has  a  much  deeper 
view  of  sin  than  obtained  in  the  Greek  Church  ;  but 
his  ideas  of  penitential  satisfaction  obscure  grace, 
and  give  a  gloomy  tinge  to  his  theology.  The  w^ords, 
"  This  is  My  body "  in  the  Supper  are  explained, 
"  This  is  the  Jigiire  of  My  body  "  ;  but  a  real  presence 
in  the  elements  is  presupposed. 

3.  The  Alexandrian  School — Pantaenus  and 
Clement. — Alexandria  was,  next  to  Athens,  the  city 
of  the  Greek  world  in  which  intellectual  tendencies  of 
every  sort  met  and  commingled.  It  was  to  be  ex- 
pected, therefore,  that  in  this  busy  centre  the  attempt 
would  early  be  made  to  unite  Christianity  with  what 
was  best  in  the  thought  and  culture  of  the  time.  This, 
accordingly,  is  what  we  see  taking  place  in  the  famous 
Catechetical  School  at  Alexandria.  It  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  Alexandrian  School  that  it  takes  up 
a  genial  attitude  to  heathen  learning  and  culture  ; 
regards  Greek  philosophy  and  science  as  in  its  w^ay 
also  a  providential  preparation  for  the  Gospels  ;  seeks 
to  meet  an  antichristian  Gnosis  by  a  better  Gnosis, 
which  grows  out  of  faith  and  love.     It  is  speculative, 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS    99 

LIBERAL,  IDEALISTIC  ill  Spirit;  in  its  Scriptural  methods 
ALLEGORICAL,  though  not  to  the  subversion  of  the 
history,  as  in  the  heretical  Gnosticism. 

Of  the  founder  and  first  teacher  of  this  school, 
Pantjexus  (c.  a.d.  180),  we  know  very  little.  He  was 
a  Stoic  philosopher,  well  trained  in  Greek  learning, 
and  the  first,  Origen  says,  who  applied  this  learning 
in  Christian  instruction.  His  school  was  designed  for 
CATECHUMENS,  i.e.,  those  in  training  for  baptism,  but 
many  heathens  who  desired  instruction  attended. 
Either  before  or  after  his  catechetical  labours  he 
travelled  widely  in  the  East  as  an  evangelist,  pene- 
trating as  far  as  India  (Arabia  Felix  1),  and  finding 
there,  it  is  said,  a  copy  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  (in 
Hebrew),  which  had  been  left  by  St.  Bartholomew. 

His  most  distinguished  pupil  was  Clement,  who 
succeeded  him  as  head  of  the  school  in  a.d.  189. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  was  born,  probably  at  Athens, 
A.D.  150-60.  Brought  up  in  paganism — he  speaks 
even  of  his  initiation  into  the  mysteries — he  under- 
took a  SERIES  OF  TRAVELS  iu  pursuit  of  truth,  but 
found  no  rest  till  he  met  with  Pant^enus.  That 
"Sicilian  bee,"  he  sa^'s,  "gathering  the  spoil  of  the 
flowers  of  the  prophetic  and  apostolic  meadow,"  en- 
gendered in  his  soul  a  deathless  element  of  knowledge 
{Strom.,  i.  2).  His  own  genius  gave  new  lustre  to 
the  school,  over  which  he  presided  for  thirteen  or 
fourteen  years,  till  the  persecution  of  Severus  (a.d. 
202)  compelled  his  withdrawal.  From  this  time 
Clement  is  well-nigh  lost  sight  of.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  died  about  a.d.  220.  Throughout  he  may  be 
regarded  as  contemporary  with  Tertullian.  Clement's 
genius  is  cast  in  a  mould  totally  different  from  that 
of  the  other  Fathers  we  have  named.  He  was,  like 
Tertullian,  a  man  of  amazing  learning,  but  he  applied 


100  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

his  learning  in  quite  another  way.  He  has  none  of  the 
austerity  of  the  Carthaginian  Father  ;  but  was  soaring, 
POETIC,  IDEALISTIC,  large  and  sympathetic  in  his  views 
of  truth.  On  the  other  hand,  his  power  of  reducing 
his  ideas  to  logical  order  and  connection  is  limited. 
His  thought  loves  to  roam  free  and  unfettered,  and 
his  style  in  writing  is  exuberant  and  discursive. 

Of  the  KNOWN  WORKS  of  Clement  we  are  fortunate 
in  possessing  the  three  greatest — which,  yet,  in 
their  connection  form  one  work.  They  belong  to  the 
period  of  his  work  in  Alexandria,  and  give  a  good  idea 
of  his  instruction.  They  are  entitled  respectively 
The  Adches!^  to  the  Greeks  (aiming  at  conversion  from 
paganism).  The  Pctdagogue  or  Tutor  (a  manual  of 
moral  discipline,  entering  into  minute  details  of  con- 
duct), and  The  Stromata  or  Miscellanies  (initiating 
into  the  higher  knowdedge).  These  follow,  he  tells 
us,  the  method  of  the  all -glorious  Word,  who  first 
addresses,  then  trains,  and  finally  teaches  {Poed.,  i.  1). 
The  Word  is  the  "  P^edagogue ".  The  Stromata, 
while  dealing  largely  with  the  relations  of  faith  and 
knowledge,  do  not  give  much  help  in  apprehending 
Clement's  theology.  Had  we  possessed  his  Outlines 
(a  lost  work)  we  might  have  been  in  better  case. 
The  central  idea  is  the  Logos  (Word)  as  the  enlighten- 
ing source  of  all  truth  in  humanity.  The  Logos  is 
eternal,  but  the  Trinitarian  distinctions  are  so  idealis- 
tically  conceived  as  almost  to  lose  their  personal 
character.  Even  the  sacraments  are  apprehended  in 
a  highly  ideal  way.  Clement  prepares  for  Origen  by 
teaching  a  preaching  in  Hades  for  those  who  died 
without  opportunity  of  repentance  here  (second  pro- 
bation), as  well  as  for  the  righteous  through  the  law 
and  philosophy,  i.e.,  just  men,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
who  died  before  the  Advent. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS     101 

4.  Origen.  —  Origen  was  the  favourite  pupil  of 
Clement,  as  Clement  had  been  the  disciple  of  Pan- 
t?enus.  We  can  hardly  err  in  recognising  in  him  the 
greatest  of  the  teachers  of  the  early  Church — one  of 
THE  GREATEST  MINDS  the  Church  has  seen  in  any  age. 
Origen  was  born  at  Alexandria  in  a.d.  l^'5.  His 
parents  were  both  Christians.  He  showed  remark- 
able ABILITY  as  a  boy,  committing  to  memory  large 
portions  of  Scripture,  and  often  perplexing  his  father, 
Leonidas,  by  the  questions  he  asked.  His  father 
reproved  him,  but  in  secret  thanked  God  for  such  a 
son,  and  often,  while  he  slej^t,  kissed  his  breast  as 
a  temple  of  the  Holy  (ihost.  When  the  persecution 
broke  out  (a.u.  202)  his  father  was  one  of  the  first 
victims.  Origen  laboured  to  support  the  family,  and 
managed  to  collect  a  small  library.  His  reputation 
was  such  that,  on  the  withdrawal  of  Clement,  he  was 
induced,  though  only  a  youth  of  eighteen,  to  take  the 
oversight  of  the  school  and  give  instruction  in  it 
(a.d.  203).  The  persecution  still  raged,  and  many  of 
his  early  pupils  suffered  martyrdom.  Origen,  how- 
ever, was  nothing  daunted,  and  his  labours  were 
crowned  with  remarkable  success.  To  procure  sub- 
sistence, as  he  would  receive  no  payment,  he  sold 
his  valuable  collection  of  classical  books.  He  went 
further,  and  taking  literally  the  injunction  in  Matthew 
xix.  12,  he  performed  an  act  of  self-mutilation,  which 
he  lived  bitterly  to  regret.  In  order  better  to  qualify 
himself  for  his  work,  he  took  lessons  in  philosophy 
from  Ammonius  Saccas,  the  founder  of  the  Neo- 
Platonic  school.  He  learned  Hebrew  also  to  prepare 
him  for  his  Biblical  studies.  His  course  embraced 
arts  and  letters  as  well  as  studies  properly  theo- 
logical. These  preparatory  studies  he  subsequently 
handed  over  to  a  colleague. 


102  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

His    PERIOD    OF    LABOUR    IN    ALEXANDRIA     lasted    for 

twenty-eight  years  (a.d.  203-31).  It  was  broken  by 
visits  to  Palestine,  in  the  first  of  which  (a.d.  215-18) 
he  taught  in  the  churches  ;  in  the  second  (extended 
to  Achaia),  a.d.  228-31,  he  was  ordained  presbyter.^ 
These  steps  drew  down  on  him  the  displeasure  of  the 
narrow-minded  bishop  Demetrius,  and  compelled  his 
departure  from  Alexandria.  A  council  convened  by 
the  bishop  excommunicated  and  deposed  him  (a.d. 
231).  The  bishops  in  Palestine  and  elsewhere  treated 
this  sentence  as  null.  The  second  period  of  his 
WORK  was  at  C&esarea,  where  he  opened  a  school  on  a 
still  larger  scale,  and  conducted  it  with  even  more 
brilliant  success.  His  labours  at  Cfesarea,  broken 
only  by  a  brief  withdrawal  during  the  persecution  of 
Maximin  (a.d.  236),  continued  for  nineteen  years  (a.d. 
231-50).  (jrigen  was  apj^rehended,  imprisoned  and 
TORTURED  iu  the  persecution  of  Decius^  (a.d.  250). 
He  was  released  in  a.d.  251,  but  died  from  the  effects  of 
the  torture  in  a.d.  253  C?  254),  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine. 
It  is  impossible  to  give  more  than  an  indication  of 
this  Father's  extraordinary  literary  labours.  Dur- 
ing his  later  residence  at  Alexandria  he  wrote  many 
of  his  Commentm^ies,  and  also  his  book  on  "  First 
Principles  " — our  first  work  on  S3'stematic  theology. 
A  wealthy  layman,  Ambrose,  provided  him  with  the 
means  of  carrying  on  his  labours  on  the  most  extended 
scale,  gave  him  shorthand  waiters,  etc.  A  colossal  work, 
which  occupied  him  for  twenty-eight  years,  was  his 
"Hexapla,"  a  collation  of  the  LXX  with  the  Hebrew 
text,  and  three  other  Greek  versions  (the  Hebrew- 
being  printed  also  in  Greek  letters  as  a  sixth  column). 

^  Shorter  visits  were  paid  in  this  and  the  subsequent  period 
to  Rome,  Arabia,  etc. 
2  See  Chap.  ix. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS    103 

The  work,  except  the  LXX  part,  has  perished.  To 
Caesarea  belong  Homilies^  treatises  on  Prayer^  Martyr- 
dom, etc.  In  A.D.  249,  in  tlie  reign  of  Philip,  he 
wrote  his  great  work  in  eight  books,  "  Against 
Celsus  "  ^  the  noblest  apology  of  the  early  Church. 
It  has  already  been  hinted  that  his  expositions  of 
Scripture  give  large  scope  to  the  allegorical  method. 

As  a  THEOLOGIAN  OrigCD  shows  a  speculative 
GENIUS  hardly  equalled.  He  distinguishes  between 
what  belongs  to  the  rule  of  faith  (to  which  he 
adheres)  and  points  which  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
leaves  undetermined  ;  and  claims  for  his  speculations 
on  these  points  only  tentative  and  provisional  value. 
He  emphasises  in  the  Trinity  the  "eternal  genera- 
tion "  of  the  Son  ;  on  the  other  hand,  lays  such  stress 
on  the  hypostatic  distinction,  and  subordination  of 
Son  and  Spirit  to  the  Father,  as  almost  to  dissolve 
the  Divine  unity.  He  speaks  even  of  the  Son  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Father  (absolute  deity)  as  "a  second  God." 
As  God,  he  thinks,  must  eternally  have  worlds  on 
which  to  display  His  omnipotence,  he  teaches  eternal 
creation.  There  is  a  pre-existence  of  souls,  and 
sin  is  explained  by  a  fall  of  souls  in  this  pre-existent 
state.  There  was  one  pure  soul  that  did  not  fall, 
but  clave  in  love  to  the  Logos.  This  is  the  soul  of 
Jesus.  Thus  Origen  explains  the  sinlessness  of  Christ. 
Redemption  he  regards  under  many  points  of  view — 
among  them  that  of  a  deception  of  Satan,  who  cannot 
retain  the  soul  of  Jesus,  given  him  as  ransom  price 
for  men.  Origen  is  the  first  pronounced  restitu- 
tionist  in  the  Church.  All  souls  and  worlds,  he 
thinks,  will  yet  be  brought  back  to  God.  The  daring- 
ness  of  some  of  these  speculations  involved  the  Church 

^  See  above,  Chap,  v. 


104  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

in  much  after  trouble  (Origenistic  controversies). 
Apart  from  his  theological  views,  Origen  is  a  valuable 
witness  to  Christian  facts.  He  bears  witness,  e.g., 
to  the  usage  of  the  Church  in  infant  baptism,  and 
traces  the  custom  back  to  the  apostles.  Tertullian, 
on  the  other  hand,  advised  delay. 

5.  The  Church  of  Rome  in  this  Period— Hip- 
polytus  and  Callistus. — Many  circumstances  com- 
bined to  exalt  the  Church  of  Rome  in  the  second 
century  to  a  position  of  exceptional  pre-eminence 
(the  political  capital,  antiquity  and  apostolic  character 
of  Church,  wealth  and  liberality  of  members,  etc.). 
This  pre-eminence  was,  however,  solely  one  of  respect 
and  honour.  It  did  not  mean  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  was  as  yet  allowed  any  real  authority  or  juris- 
diction over  other  Churches.  The  aim  of  the  bishops  of 
Rome,  on  the  other  hand,  was  to  change  this  position 
of  honour  into  one  of  actual  authority.  Every  claim 
of  this  kind  was,  by  other  bishops,  strenuously  resisted. 

A  case  which  makes  this  clear,  and  at  the  same  time 
marks  a  stage  in  the  claims  of  the  Roman  bishop,  is 
that  known  as  the  Quarto-Dbciman  controversy  or 
dispute  about  the  time  of  keeping  Easter.  In  Asia 
Minor  the  Churches  began  and  finished  their  celebra- 
tion on  one  day — the  fourteenth  day  of  Nisan,  or  day 
of  the  Jewish  Passover,  on  whatever  day  of  the  week 
it  might  fall.  They  held  that  this  was  the  custom 
handed  down  to  them  from  the  apostle  John.  Rome 
and  the  Churches  of  the  West,  on  the  other  hand, 
followed  not  the  day  of  the  month  but  the  day  of  the 
week.  They  began  on  Friday  of  the  Passover-week 
(Good  Friday)  and  ended  on  the  Easter  Sunday 
morning.  The  matter  was  discussed  in  a  friendly 
spirit  between  Polycarp,  of  Smyrna,  and  Anicetus, 
Bishop  of  Rome   (c.   a.d.   155),   without,   however,  a 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS     105 

settlement  being  arrived  at.  It  was  the  occasion  of 
a  sharp  controversy  in  Asia  Minor  itself  between 
Melito  of  Sardis  and  Apollinaris  of  Hierapolis  (c.  a.d. 
170).  Melito  defended  the  Asiatic  practice.  Rut  the 
most  important  stage  in  the  controversy  was  in  a.u. 
190-94,  when  Victor,  a  haughty  and  imperious  man, 
was  bishop  of  Rome.  Victor  issued  a  mandate  re- 
quiring conformity  to  the  Roman  practice ;  then,  when 
protest  was  made,  threatened  the  exconmiunication 
of  the  Asiatics.  This  assumption  of  authority  was 
too  much  even  for  many  who  agreed  with  Victor  in 
principle,  and  immediate  remonstrances  were  made. 
The  chief  of  these  was  from  Irenseus,  who,  in  a  letter 
to  Victor,  earnestly  reproves  him  for  his  arrogance. 
Irenseus  was  successful  in  his  protest,  and  the  excom- 
munication was  not  carried  out.  The  Roman  ciistom 
was  ultimately  affirmed  at  the  Council  of  Nic£ea  (a.d. 
325),  though  not  till  it  had  become  generally  accepted 
throughout  the  Churches. 

The  bishops  next  in  succession  to  Victor  were 
Zephyrlxus  (a.d.  200-18)  and  Callistus  (a.d.  218- 
23),  regarding  whom  (especially  the  latter)  there  is  a 
curious  story  to  tell  which  is  best  connected  with  the 
account  of  another  great  Church  Father — Hippolytus. 
Hippolytus  has  had  a  most  singular  fate.  A  volu- 
minous and  learned  writer,  and  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous figures  in  the  Roman  Church  of  his  day,  he 
seems  afterwards  to  have  dropped  almost  entirely  out 
of  view.  Two  interesting  discoveries  in  modern  times 
have  restored  him  to  our  knowledge.  First,  his 
STATUE  was  dug  up  in  Rome  in  1551  (on  the  back  of 
the  chair  his  Easter  cycle  and  list  of  his  writings)  ; 
and  second,  in  1842,  his  long-lost  w^ork,  in  ten  books, 
A  Refutation  of  all  Heresies,  was  recovered  (published 
in  1851).     The  first  book  had  long  been  attributed  to 


106  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Origeii,  under  the  name  Philosophoumena ;  the  second 
and  third  books  are  wanting  in  the  MSS.,  but  the 
rest  of  the  work  is  nearly  entire.  A  vahiable  feature 
in  the  book  is  the  original  light  it  throws  on  the 
system  of  Basilides.  But  by  far  its  most  interesting 
service  is  its  account  of  the  state  of  the  Roman  Church 
under  the  two  bishops  above  named,  and  of  Hip- 
polytus's  own  relation  to  them. 

Hippolytus  in  early  life  was  a  hearer  of  Iren^us 
in  Gaul  or  Rome.  Later  he  headed  a  party  of 
OPPOSiTiox  in  Rome  to  the  bishops  Zephyrinus  and 
Callistus,  whom  he  accuses  at  once  of  doctrinal  heresy 
and  of  scandalous  laxity  in  discipline  (Bk.  ix.). 
Zephyrinus  he  describes  as  a  weak  and  illiterate 
man,  covetous  and  accessible  to  bribes,  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  completely  under  the  influence 
of  Callistus.  The  latter  used  him  for  his  own  pur- 
poses, and  among  other  things  inclined  him  to  the 
adoption  of  the  Patripassian  heresy, ^  then  being 
actively  disseminated  in  Rome.  The  account  of  Cal- 
listus is  in  the  highest  degree  unfavourable.  Origin- 
ally the  slave  of  a  Christian  master,  he  embezzled  the 
funds  of  a  banking  business ;  fled,  and,  when  about 
to  be  captured,  tried  to  commit  suicide ;  was  sent  to 
the  house  of  correction ;  later,  for  a  disturbance  in  the 
Jewish  synagogue,  was  banished  to  the  Sardinian 
mines,  etc.  We  next  find  him  in  the  confidence  of 
Zephyrinus,  who  set  him  over  the  cemetery  ever  since 
called  by  his  name.  On  the  death  of  Zephyrinus,  he 
had  influence  enough  to  get  himself  appointed  as 
bishop  in  his  place.  His  scandalous  administration 
is  pictured  in  the  darkest  colours  by  Hippolytus. 

The  difficulty  is   to  know  what  position  precisely 

1  See  below,  Chap.  x. 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS    107 

Hippolytus  himself  occupied.  He  assumes  the  office 
of  bishop  and  withholds  that  designation  from  Cal- 
listus  ;  speaks  of  Callistus  only  as  head  of  a  school. 
A  late  and  worthless  tradition  makes  him  bishop  of 
Portus — the  seaport  of  Rome.  He  was  more  probably 
really  a  rival  bishop  to  Callistus,  set  up  by  his  own 
party — the  first  of  the  long  line  of  anti-popes.  Yet,  all 
unwitting  of  his  real  history,  the  Church  later  canon- 
ised him  as  a  saint !  The  remaining  fact  of  his  life 
of  which  we  can  speak  with  v  certainty  is  that  he  and 
the  bishop  Pontianus  were  transported  to  Sardinia 
in  the  persecution  of  Maximin  (a.d.  235).  Some  kind 
of  reconciliation  must  have  taken  place,  for  the  bodies 
of  both  were  brought  back  to  Rome  about  a.d.  236-37, 
and  deposited  in  their  respective  sepulchres  on  the 
same  day  (13th  August).  Besides  the  work  on 
heresies,  we  have  from  Hippolytus  a  treatise  Against 
NoetiLSy  and  minor  works  and  fragments. 

6.  Cyprian  of  Carthage — Completion  of  Idea 
of  Old  Catholic  Church. — Cyprian  is  the  last  of  the 
old  Catholic  Fathers,  and  he  marks  the  transition  to 
the  next  period.  Cyprian  is  not  great  as  a  theologian, 
but  he  is  a  great  churchman.  To  him  belongs  the 
distinction  of  having  placed  the  copestone  on  the 
edifice  of  the  old  Catholic  Church  which  we  have 
seen  being  built  up  by  many  hands  from  the  days 
of  Ignatius.  His  personal  history  presents  us  with  a 
career  of  splendid  self-sacrifice. 

Cyprian  was  born  at  Carthage,  about  a.d.  200,  of 
noble  and  wealthy  parents.  Previous  to  his  conversion 
he  was  distinguished  as  a  teacher  of  rhetoric.  He  was 
WON  TO  Christ  about  a.d.  245  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  an  aged  presbyter,  Ca^cilius,  who  directed 
him  to  the  study  of  the  Bible.  Cyprian  gave  proof 
at  once  of  the  thoroughness  and  decision  of  his  pro- 


108  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

fession  by  taking  Christ's  command  literally,  and 
voluntarily  selling  his  fine  estate  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor.  Baptism  followed  rapidly  on  conversion,  and 
was  signalised  by  his  adoption  of  the  name  of  his 
spiritual  father,  Ceecilius.  In  a  writing  of  this  period, 
To  Donatus,  Cyprian  gives  a  beautiful  description  of 
the  effects  of  his  conversion,  and  of  the  contrast 
between  Christianity  and  heathenism  in  a  moral 
respect.  He  was  shortly  after  ordained  a  presbyter, 
and  a  little  later — only  two  years  after  his  baptism — 
was  compulsorily  raised  by  popular  acclamation  to 
THE  DIGNITY  OF  BISHOP.  His  elcvation  gave  deep 
offence  to  the  presbyters  who  had  been  passed  over. 
Five  presbyters  objected  to  his  ordination,  and  to  the 
jealousy  thus  created  is  to  be  traced  most  of  his  after 
troubles.  Thus  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  Christian 
course  Cyprian  found  himself  at  the  head  of  the  clergy 
of  North  Africa. 

In  A.D.  250  the  storm  of  the  Decian  persecution 
broke  on  the  Church,  and  Cyprian  thought  it  prudent 
to  withdraw  for  a  time  that  he  might  better  direct 
the  affairs  of  the  Church,  and  prevent  it  from  being 
deprived  of  its  head.  Of  the  troubles  which  arose  out 
of  this  persecution  and  the  difficulties  in  which  they 
involved  Cyprian,  we  shall  speak  in  the  next  chapter. 
He  returned  to  Carthage  in  a.d.  251,  when  the  persecu- 
tion had  ended  through  the  death  of  the  emperor.  In 
A.D.  252  came  the  great  pestilence,  which  afforded 
opportunity  for  a  display  of  Christian  devotion  and 
charity  such  as  paganism  was  incapable  of.  A  scheme 
was  drawn  up  for  the  systematic  visitation  of  the  city  ; 
a  ministry  of  help  was  organised  ;  some  undertook 
the  work  of  nursing  and  burial  ;  and  through  their 
unremitting  efforts  a  general  pestilence  was  averted. 
Under  the  Valerian  persecution,  a.d.  257,  Cyprian 


AGE  OF  THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  FATHERS     1()9 

WHS  banished  to  a  city  some  forty  miles  distant.  A 
year  later  (a.d.  258)  a  more  severe  edict  was  issued, 
and  he  was  sentenced  to  death  by  beheading.  The 
martyrdom  took  place  on  a  level  plain  near  the  city 
in  presence  of  a  vast  concourse  of  spectators,  all  of 
whom,  even  the  pagans,  did  him  reverence. 

Cyprian,  as  said  above,  was  less  a  theologian  than  a 
GREAT  CHURCH  LEADER.  The  trying  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed,  and  the  oppositions  he  had  to 
encounter,  forced  on  him  the  task  of  strengthening  to 
the  utmost  the  bonds  of  church  unity,  and  of  seek- 
ing, in  argument  witli  his  opponents,  a  dogmatic  basis 
for  that  unity.  The  chief  works  in  which  this  basis  is 
set  forth  are  his  elghty-onc  Eputlm  (a  few  not  his),  and, 
above  all,  his  treatise  on  The  Unity  of  the  Church — 
the  Magna  Charta,  as  it  has  been  called,  of  the  old 
Catholic  and  High  Church  conception. 

Cyprian's  doctrine  of  the  Church  may  be  summed 
up  in  three  points.  (1)  The  unity  of  the  Church  as 
repreaented  by  the  episcopate.  Cyprian  gives  this  a 
new  grounding  in  basing  it  on  the  promise  of  Christ 
to  St.  Peter  (Matt.  xvi.  18,  19).  Peter,  however, 
only  represents  the  unity  of  the  Church  in  a  sym- 
bolical way.  It  is  not  the  bishop  of  Rome  only,  but 
the  whole  body  of  the  episcopate,  which  inherits 
Peter's  prerogatives.  (2)  The  priesthood  of  the  clergy. 
Cyprian  is  the  first  to  give  this  conception  fixed 
and  definite  shape.  The  way  had  long  been  preparing 
in  the  development  of  the  idea  of  sacramental  grace, 
and  especially  of  the  eucharist  as  a  sacrifice.  The 
sacrifice  in  the  eucharist  was  originally  the  spiritual 
sacrifice  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  or  the  offering 
up  of  the  worshipper  himself.  The  idea  was  extended 
to  the  gifts  from  which  the  elements  of  the  Supper 
were  taken  ;    then  to  the  elements.      Now  that  the 


110  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

idea  was  established  of  a  real  mystical  presence  of  the 
Lord's  body  and  blood  in  the  elements,  it  was  natural 
that  the  conception  of  the  sacrifice  should  change. 
The  Sacrament  becomes  a  real  offering  up  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  the  Lord — a  renewal  of  the 
sacrifice  on  the  Cross.  Thus  the  idea  of  the  sacrifice 
as  A  SIN-OFFERING,  and  of  the  priest  as  an  off'erer  at 
the  altar  (in  the  Jewish  and  pagan  sense),  becomes 
established  in  the  Church.  The  clergy  are  a  priestly 
class,  mediating  between  the  people  and  God,  and 
conveying  grace  to  the  people  from  God.  The 
distinction  of  clergy  and  laity  becomes  absolute. 
(3)  With  all  this  Cyprian  held  firmly  the  autonomy 
of  each  bishop  in  his  own  Church.  He  resisted  all 
arrogant  pretensions  on  the  part  of  the  bishop  of 
Rome.  On  the  question  of  the  re-baptism  of  heretics, 
e.g.,  he  came  into  violent  collision  with  Stephen  of 
Rome  (a. I).  2.55-56),  who  wished  to  impose  his  own 
views  on  the  Churches  of  North  Africa.  The  Pope's 
unqualified  primacy  gets  little  help  from  the  Fathers 
of  this  age.  From  the  above  positions  follows  logically 
the  conclusion  which  Cyprian  now  boldly  draws,  that 
out  of  this  visible,  episcopally-organised  Church  there 
can  be  no  salvation.  Extra  ecclesiam  nulla  solus. 
Hence  schism  is  the  worst  of  sins ;  excommunication 
dooms  the  soul  to  perdition. 

Points  for  inquirij  and  study. — Study  more  fully  the  lives 
of  the  Fathers.  Contrast  the  idea  of  the  bishop  in  Irenseus 
and  Cyprian.  Show  more  fully  the  degree  of  honour  allowed 
to  the  bishops  of  Rome  in  the  second  and  third  centuries, 
and  contrast  with  modern  claims.  Trace  the  development  of 
the  eucharist  as  a  sacrifice. 

Books. — Lightfoot's  "Churches  of  Gaul"  in  Essays; 
Brown's  Apostolical  Succession ;  Farrar's  Lives  of  Fathers 
(also  Pressens^,  etc.);  Barrow's  Supremacy  of  Pope;  North 
African  Church  in  "  Home  Library". 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE    AGE   OF   THE    GREAT   PERSECUTIONS  : 
VICTORY  OF  CHRISTIANITY  (a.d.  250-324). 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  the  completion  of 
Rome's  millennium  should  also  mark  the  beginning  of 
its  downfall.  The  Gothic  invasions  had  commenced 
even  in  the  reign  of  Philip  ;  in  that  of  Decius  (a.d. 
250-51  )thej  spread  frightful  desolation  through  Rome's 
fairest  provinces.  The  turning-point  in  the  history  of 
the  Church  is  not  less  marked.  Everything  seemed 
going  prosperously.  It  appeared  as  if  an  eas}^  and 
peaceful  victory  were  about  to  be  achieved.  But 
observant  eyes,  like  Origen's,  saw  that  this  season  of 
respite  was  only  the  calm  before  the  storm  of  a 
great  final  struggle.  The  breaking  of  that  storm  was 
not  long  deferred.  Hitherto  there  had  been  severe 
and  distressing  persecutions,  but  they  had  been  more 
or  less  local  and  limited  in  range.  Now  the  empire 
woke  up  to  see  that  the  very  existence  of  paganism 
was  at  stake,  and  for  the  first  time  we  have  systema- 
tically planned  and  strictly  universal  persecutions. 
1,  The  Decian  and  Valerian  Persecutions. — The 
Emperor  Decius  was  a  Roman  of  the  old  school.  His 
two  years'  reign  ended  in  a  defeat  by  the  Goths,  in 
which  he  and  his  army  perished  miserably  in  a  morass ; 
but  they  were  years  fraught  with  important  conse- 
quences for  the  Christians.  Decius  was  a  persecutor, 
pot   from   impulse   but   from   settled    policy.       He 

(111) 


112  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

honestly  believed  that  the  salvation  of  Rome  lay  in 
its  old  institutions,  and  that  Christianity,  as  a  rival 
power,  could  not  be  too  speedily  or  effectually  crushed. 
He  is  credited  with  the  saying  that  he  would  rather 
have  a  second  emperor  at  his  side  than  the  bishop  of 
Rome.  He  was  therefore  scarcely  established  in  the 
empire  when  he  launched  the  edict  which  inaugurated 
what  is  deemed  the  seventh  persecution  (a.d.  250). 
He  does  not  seem  at  first  to  have  desired  the  death 
of  the  Christians.  His  policy  was  to  terrify  them  by 
citing  them  before  the  tribunals  and  requiring  them 
to  recant ;  then,  if  they  proved  obstinate,  to  coerce 
them  by  imprisonments,  confiscations,  tortures,  exile. 
It  was  only  when  these  measures  failed  that  the 
extremest  tortures  and  death  were  inflicted  on  con- 
fessors, and  specially  on  the  bishops. 

The  persecuting  edict  was  sent  throughout  the 
empire  and  rigorously  enforced.  Christians  who  did 
not  appear  before  the  tribunals  on  an  appointed  day 
were  to  be  sought  after,  and  brought  before  a  com- 
mission composed  of  the  magistrate  and  five  of  the 
principal  citizens.  The  edict  fell  like  a  thunderbolt 
on  the  Church.  The  Ejnstles  of  Cyprian,  his  Treatise 
on  the  Laxjsed,  and  a  letter  of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  ^ 
give  us  vivid  pictures  of  the  persecution,  but  show 
also  how  ill-prepared  the  Church  was  to  meet  it. 
Multitudes  in  time  of  peace  had  joined  the  Church 
who  had  no  deep-rooted  piety  ;  and  these,  especially 
the  wealthier  classes,  now  fell  away  in  large  numbers. 
Dionysius  pictures  them  approaching  the  altar,  pale 
and  trembling,  as  if  they  were  going  to  be  sacrificed 
instead  of  to  sacrifice,  w^hile  the  populace  who  thronged 
aroimd  jeered  them.      Special  names  had  to  be  m- 

'^Eus.,  vi.  41. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   113 

vented  to  designate  the  classes  of  the  lapskd 
(mcrijicati,  those  who  had  sacrificed  ;  thur/'Jirati,  those 
who  offered  incense  ;  lihellatici,  those  who  for  payment 
obtained  a  certificate  that  they  had  s  icrificed  though 
they  had  not  done  so  ;  ^  and  acta  facientes,  those  who 
without  certificates  pretended  they  had  sacrificed). 
Many,  however,  did  not  apostatise,  but  submitted  to 
be  tormented  with  heat,  hunger,  and  thirst  in  their 
prisons,  stretched  on  the  rack,  torn  with  hooks,  burnt 
with  fire,  and  finally  put  to  death.  One  of  the  first 
victims  of  the  persecution  was  the  aged  Fabian,  Bishop 
of  Rome.  For  more  than  a  year  after  this  no  bishop 
of  Rome  could  be  elected.  Other  distinguished  suf- 
ferers were  Babylus  of  Antioch  and  Alexander  of 
Jerusalem,  Origen's  friend.  Okigex  himself,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  imprisoned  and  tortured.  The 
death  of  the  emperor  set  him  free.  The  persecution 
broke  out  again  under  his  successor,  Gallus  (a.d. 
2.^)1-54). 

It  is,  however,  under  the  more  important  reign  of 
the  next  emperor,  Valerian  (a.d.  2.54-60),  that  we 
come  to  what  is  usually  numbered  as  the  eighth 
PERSECUTION.  Valerian  was  a  man  of  unblemished 
virtue,  and  for  the  first  four  years  of  his  reign  was 
not  unfavourably  disposed  towards  the  Christians, 
His  house  is  described  by  Dionysius  as  "  filled  with 
pious  persons,  and  a  house  of  God"  [Eus.,  vi.  36). 
The  change  seems  to  have  been  brought  about  by 
a  dark-minded  man,  Macrianus,  who  had  acquired 
great  influence  over  him.  The  reign  of  Valerian  was 
the  most  calamitous  the  empire  had  yet  experienced  ; 
this  also  had  doubtless  its  effect.  The  persecution 
that  ensued  exceeded  even  that  of  Decius  in  severity. 

^  Specimens  of  these  libelli  have  been  recovered. 
8 


114  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Its  first  stage  was  in  a.d.  257,  and  went  no  farther 
than  to  remove  bishops  from  their  churches,  and 
forbid  Christian  assemblies  on  pain  of  death ;  the 
second  stage  (a.d.  258)  was  far  more  drastic,  decreeing 
that  office-bearers  of  churches  should  immediately  be 
put  to  death,  persons  of  rank  should  be  degraded,  and, 
if  they  persevered,  should  be  put  to  death,  noble  women 
and  persons  of  lesser  rank  should  suffer  confiscation 
and  banishment. 

One  of  the  first  to  suffer  was  again  the  bishop  of 
Rome,  SiXTUS,  who  was  beheaded  in  his  episcopal  chair. 
We  saw  that  Cyprian  suffered  in  this  persecution.  In 
Spain  we  read  of  a  bishop  and  two  deacons  being  burned 
alive  in  the  amphitheatre.  The  persecution  came  to 
an  end  with  the  captivity  of  Valerian  in  Persia 
(a.d.  260).  How  little  all  these  persecuting  edicts 
had  done  to  destroy  Christianity  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  first  step  of  his  frivolous  son  and  colleague, 
Gallienus  (a.d.  254-68),  was  to  restore  to  congrega- 
tions their  right  to  worship,  and  give  bishops  permission 
to  return  to  their  charges.  Christianity  thus  became 
once  more  practically  a  religio  licita. 

2.  Effects  of  the  Persecutions— Schisms  of  Feli- 
cissimus  and  Novatian.— A  delicate  and  difficult 
question  for  the  Church,  as  soon  as  the  severity  of 
the  persecutions  had  abated,  was  the  restoration  of 
THE  LAPSED.  Thcsc  formed  a  wide  class,  and  among 
them  were  included  many  shades  and  degrees  of  guilt. 
Multitudes  had  little  real  sense  of  their  sin  in  apostasy, 
and  were  indisposed  to  brook  delay  in  restoration.  The 
evil  was  aggravated  by  faction,  and  by  a  practice  which 
had  grown  up  of  allowing  confessors  a  right  of  inter- 
cession for  the  fallen,  and  even  of  granting  certificates 
OF  peace  with  the  Church.  In  Carthage  especially 
this  privilege  was  abused  beyond  all  bounds.      The 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   115 

result  was  two  schisms — one  at  Ciirthiv^e,  the  other 
at  Rome,  the  latter  of  which,  at  least,  had  important 
historical  consecjuences. 

Cyprian's  viewson  the  restoration  of  the  lapsed  tended 
to  strictness  ;  he  wns  at  any  rate  opposed  to  action  till 
a  council  could  be  called  to  settle  deliberately  terms 
of  re-admission.  It  will  be  remembered  that  a  party 
of  opposition  toCyprian  existed  in  Carthage — the  result 
of  jealousy  at  his  ordination.  The  head  of  this  party 
was  a  presbyter,  No  vat  us,  who  had  already  shown  his 
disregard  for  Cyprian  by  ordaining  one  Felicissimus 
as  his  deacon.  These  threw  in  their  influence  with 
the  advocates  of  lenity,  and  received  back  all  and 
simdry  to  Church  fellowship.  Novatus  shortly  after 
went  to  Rome,  where  we  find  him  assuming  the 
opposite  7-6le  of  a  leader  of  the  strict  party.  Cyprian 
gradually  softened  in  his  views,  but  without  effect  on 
the  opposition.  Felicissimus  openly  revolted  against 
his  authority,  and  refused  to  receive  a  delegation 
which  Cyprian  had  sent  to  inquire  into  the  neces- 
sities of  sufferers  by  the  persecution.  At  a  council 
held  A.D.  251  Felicissimus  was  condemned,  and  at  a 
second  council  (a.d.  252)  milder  rules  were  adopted. 
The  party  of  Felicissimus  now  set  up  a  bishop  of  their 
own,  named  Fortunatus,  and  the  schism  was  complete. 
It  seems  to  have  had  no  permanent  success.^ 

At  Rome  a  much  graver  contest  was  being  waged. 
Cornelius,  the  bishop-elect,  was  opposed  by  Nova- 
TiAN,  a  man  of  sombre  temper  and  rigorous  principles, 
who  resisted  all  re-admission  of  the  lapsed  to  Church 
communion.  He  did  not  deny  that  the  penitent 
might  receive  mercy  from  God,  but  held  that  the 
Church   had   no   power  to  grant   it.     Novatus,  from 

^  A  third  (Novatian)  bishop  was  afterwards  set  up. 


116  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Carthage,  threw  himself  into  this  new  strife,  and,  on 
the  rejection  of  Novatian,  persuaded  his  party  not  to 
accept  Cornelius  as  their  bishop,  but  to  elect  a  bishop 
for  themselves.  Novatian  was  chosen  opposition 
bishop,  and  a  rival  Church  was  formed  which  deve- 
loped into  a  great  organisation,  spread  into  many 
countries  (Gaul,  Africa,  Asia  Minor,  etc.),  and  con- 
tinued for  centuries,  with  a  great  reputation  for  piety. 
Epiphanius,  e.g.,  mentions  that  in  Thyatira  there  were 
no  Catholics  for  a  hundred  and  twelve  years.  Novatian 
was  a  genuinely  able  and  learned  man,  as  his  work 
on   The  Trinity  shows. 

Following  on  the  schisms,  embittered  disputes  arose 
on  the  RE-BAPTISM  OF  HERETICS.  Thesc,  as  formerly 
mentioned,  brought  Cyprian  into  collision  with 
Stephen,  Bishop  of  Rome  (a.d.  255-56).  Cyprian, 
with  the  North  African  Church,  took  the  stricter 
view  (insisting  on  re-baptism)  ;  Stephen  took  the 
milder.  The  more  charitable  view  ultimately  pre- 
vailed. 

3.  Empire  and  Church  till  Diocletian — Neo- 
Platonism. — The  death  of  Gallienus  in  a.d.  268  left 
the  empire  in  a  state  bordering  on  ruin.  From  this 
period  a  rapid  succession  of  emperors  held  sway  whose 
main  task  it  was  to  clear  the  provinces  from  the  bar- 
barians that  infested  them.  They  were  mostly  men 
of  obscure  rank,  of  Illyrian  extraction  (hence  known 
as  the  Illyrian  Emperors),  and  of  great  bravery  and 
skill.  The  only  one  that  need  be  mentioned  here  was 
Aurelian  (a.d.  270-75),  who  achieved  a  series  of 
brilliant  triumphs  in  east  and  west,  but  made  himself 
odious  by  his  pride  and  severity.  He  was  zealous  for 
the  maintenance  of  pagan  rites  (was  himself  a  devoted 
worshipper  of  the  sun),  and  was  on  the  point  of  sub- 
scribing an  edict  for  the  persecution  of  the  Christians 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   117 

when  he  was  cut  off  by  conspirators.  Some  allege 
that  the  edict  was  actually  issued.  It  is  this,  never- 
theless, which  is  reckoned  as  the  ninth  persecution 
— a  persecution,  it  will  be  seen,  only  on  paper.  The 
murder  of  the  Emperor  Numerian  in  a.d.  284  opened 
the  way  for  Diocletian,  with  whom  a  new  era  in  the 
empire  begins. 

During  all  this  period  (apart  from  the  danger  under 
Aurelian),  as  well  as  during  the  first  nineteen  years  of 
the  reign  of  Diocletian  (till  a.d.  303),  the  Church 
enjoyed  peace.  This  is  known  as  the  forty  years' 
PEACE,  and,  while  it  lasted,  the  Church  continued  to 
grow  in  numbers,  wealth  and  influence,  but  also  in 
worldliness  and  corruption.  Large  and  magnificent 
churches  began  to  be  erected,  greater  splendour  was 
introduced  into  the  services,  church  offices  were  multi- 
plied, etc.^  Christians  were  found  in  the  highest 
positions  in  the  palace.  In  the  same  proportion 
Church  discipline  was  relaxed,  and  the  old  evils  from 
which  the  Decian  persecution  had  done  much  to 
purify  the  Church  returned  in  full  tide. 

Reference  may  be  made  here  to  a  new  form  of 
opposition  which  had  sprung  up  on  the  philosophical  and 
literary  side,  viz.,  Neo-Platonism.  This  philosophical 
form  of  faith,  while  bitterly  hostile  to  Christianity,  is 
the  strongest  testimony  to  its  influence.  It  no  longer 
poured  unqualified  ridicule  on  Christianity,  as  Celsus 
had  done,  but  dealt  with  it  in  an  eclectic  spirit,  con- 
demning only  its  exclusive  claims.  "  We  must  not," 
said  Porphyry,  "  calumniate  Christ,  but  only  pity 
those  who  worship  Him  as  God."  The  founder  of 
thi^  school,  Ammonius  Saccas  of  Alexandria  (died 
a.d.  243),  was  born  of  Christian  parents,  and,  indeed, 

^  See  Chap.  x. 


118  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

for  a  time  himself  professed  Christianity.  A  trace  of 
Christian  influence  may  be  seen  in  the  Neo- Platonic 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  which,  however,  has  little  in 
common  with  the  Christian,  but  is  wrought  up  from 
Platonic  elements.  The  problem  which  Neo-Platonism 
set  itself  to  solve  was  the  union  of  the  finite  and  in- 
finite ;  and  its  means  of  bridging  the  opposition  of 
the  two  was  "  ecstasy." 

The  most  illustrious  teachers  of  the  school  after 
Ammonius  were  Plotinus  (died  c.  a.d,  270)  and 
Porphyry  (died  a.d.  304).  Porphyry  wrote  a  book 
entitled  Discourses  against  the  Christians,  of  which 
fragments  are  preserved  in  the  Fathers  who  replied 
to  it.  Some  of  his  objections  to  the  books  of  Scripture 
(e.g.,  to  the  book  of  Daniel)  anticipate  modern  critical 
attacks.  A  literary  opponent  of  a  coarser  stamp, 
generally  reckoned  to  this  school,  was  Hierocles, 
prefect  of  Bithynia  (afterwards  of  Alexandria),  a 
cruel  persecutor  of  the  Christians.  His  book,  Truth- 
loving  Words  to  the  Christians  (!),  attempts  to  disparage 
the  character  and  miracles  of  Jesus  by  comparison  with 
those  of  Aristseus,  Pythagoras,  and  the  pagan  miracle- 
worker,  Apollonius  of  Tyana.  Eusebius  wrote  a  reply 
to  it.  The  school  afterwards  degenerated  into  theurgy 
and  magic  {e.g.,  Jamblichus  of  Chalcis,  who  died  c. 
A.D.  330).  Its  last  famous  teacher  was  Proclus  of 
Constantinople,  the  commentator  on  Plato  (died  a.d. 
485). 

4.  The  Diocletian  Persecution. — The  last  and 
most  violent  of  all  the  persecutions  that  overtook  the 
Christians  (the  tenth  persecution)  was  that  in  the 
reign  of  Diocletian  (a.d.  303-13).  Diocletian,  the 
son  of  a  slave,  introduced  changes  into  the  organisa- 
tion OP  THE  EMPIRE  of  far- reaching  importance.  He 
assumed  personally  the  style  of  an  Oriental  despot ; 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS    119 

divided  the  empire  into  two  parts  ( West  and  East),  with 
an  "Augustus  "  for  each  ;  chan«2:ed  the  seat  of  empire 
from  Rome  to  the  new  capitals,  Milan  (W.)  and 
Nicomedia  (E.) ;  further,  subdivided  the  empire  by 
associating  with  each  "Augustus"  a  "  C«esar,"  who 
was  in  due  course  to  succeed  to  the  higher  dignity. 
In  pursuance  of  these  arrangements,  Diocletian  (E.) 
associated  with  himself,  in  a.d.  286,  Maximian,  a 
rude  but  able  soldier  (W.),  and  in  a.d.  292  added,  as 
the  two  "  Caesars,'"'  Galerius,  originally  a  herdsman, 
and  CoNSTANTius  Chlorus,  father  of  Constantine  the 
Great.  To  consolidate  the  relations  Constantius  was 
required  to  put  away  his  wife  Helena  (mother  of 
Constantine)  and  become  son-in-law^  of  Maximian, 
while  Galerius  became  the  son-in-law  of  Diocletian. 
Constantius  received  the  rule  of  Gaul  and  Britain,  and 
Galerius  had  lUyria. 

If  Diocletian  did  not  molest  the  Christians  during 
the  FIRST  NiNETEEX  YEARS  of  his  reign  (his  own  wife, 
Prisca,  and  daughter,  Valeria,  were  reputed  Chris- 
tians) it  was  not  from  any  love  of  their  religion.  But 
Diocletian  was  a  wary,  politic  man,  and  knew^  better 
than  most  what  a  conflict  with  Christianity  which 
was  to  end  in  its  suppression  would  mean.  The 
REAL  INSTIGATOR  of  the  persecution  was  the  low-bred, 
ferocious  Galerius.  Diocletian  long  held  back,  but, 
plied  with  arguments  by  Galerius  and  the  pagan 
nobles,  he  at  length  gave  way,  and  a  persecution  was 
agreed  on,  to  take  effect  on  23rd  February,  a.d.  303. 
There  was  to  be  no  halting  or  turning  back,  but 
measures  were  to  be  taken  for  the  entire  suppression 
of  Christianity.  Proceedings  began  at  daybreak  on 
the  day  named  by  the  demolition  of  the  magnificent 
CHURCH  at  Nicomedia  (one  of  the  architectural  orna- 
ments of  the  city),  and  the  burning  of  all  copies  of 


120  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

the  Scriptures  found  in  it.  Next  day  an  edict  was 
issued  giving  the  signal  for  a  general  persecution.  All 
churches  were  to  be  demolished  ;  all  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  were  to  be  burned ;  Christians  holding 
official  positions  were  to  be  degraded  and  deprived 
of  civil  rights ;  others  were  to  be  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  slaves  ;  slaves  were  made  incapable  of 
receiving  their  freedom. 

This  first  edict  (a.d.  303)  was  aimed,  it  will  be  ob- 
served, rather  at  the  churches  and  the  Scriptures 
(a  new  policy)  than  the  persons  of  the  Christians  ; 
disobedience  was  punished  by  degradation,  not  by 
death.  A  second  edict  (a.d.  303)  ordered  all  clergy, 
without  option  of  sacrifice,  to  be  thrown  into  prison. 
Some  time  after  a  third  edict  was  issued,  yet  more 
severe.  The  clergy  in  prison  were  required  to  sacri- 
fice ;  if  they  did  not,  they  were  to  be  compelled  by 
every  means  of  torture.  Finally,  in  a.d.  304,  a  fourth 
EDICT  extended  this  law  to  the  whole  body  of  the 
Christians.  The  most  fearful  tortures  were  inflicted 
on  the  Christians  to  compel  them  to  submit,  and 
though  death  was  not  mentioned  in  the  edict,  it  was, 
as  we  see  from  Eusebius,  freely  inflicted.  The  sweep- 
ing severity  of  this  persecution  is  apparent  from  the 
rehearsal  of  these  edicts  alone.  Their  publication,  as 
in  the  Decian  persecution,  caused  indescribable  con- 
sternation. Immediately  on  the  publication  of  the 
first,  a  soldier  rashly  tore  it  down  with  opprobrious 
words  ;  for  this  act  he  was  roasted  over  a  slow  fire. 
Fires  that  broke  out  in  the  palace  were  blamed  on  the 
Christians,  and  led  to  many  being  burned,  beheaded 
and  drowned.  Formerly  trusted  chamberlains  of  the 
palace  were  put  to  death.  Diocletian's  own  wife  and 
daughter  had  to  clear  themselves  by  sacrifice. 

Special   panic    was   created    by   the   order  for  the 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   121 

SURRENDER  and  DESTRUCTION  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 
The  scenes  of  the  Dccian  persecution  were  repeated 
in  new  forms.  Multitudes  hastened  at  once  to  give 
up  their  copies  of  the  Scrijjtures  ;  some  pahned  off  on 
the  officers  worthless  and  heretical  writings  ;  others, 
more  enthusiastic,  not  only  retained  their  Scriptures, 
but  boasted  of  their  possession,  and  challenged  the 
magistrates  to  do  their  worst.  Those  who  for  any 
reason  gave  up  their  Scriptures  were  branded  with 
the  name  traditors,  and  the  antagonism  to  these 
afterwards  gave  rise  to  a  new  schism — that  of  the 
DoNATiSTS  (see  below).  The  later  edicts  still  further 
tried  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  Christians.  In 
Gaul  and  Britain,  first  under  Constantius,  then  under 
Constantine,  the  Christians  enjoyed  comparative  peace. 
But  throughout  the  rest  of  the  empire  the  persecu- 
tion raged  with  dreadful  cruelty.  Egypt  and  Pales- 
tine were  specially  afflicted. 

In  a.d.  305  Diocletian  abdicated,  but  this  rather 
made  matters  worse  for  the  Christians.  Galcrius,  the 
chief  promoter  of  the  persecution,  was  now  emperor, 
and  his  creatures,  Severus  and  Maximin,  in  West  and 
East  respectively,  were  entirely  devoted  to  his  in- 
terests. The  revolt  of  Maxentius  in  Italy  (a.d.  306) 
was  favourable  to  the  Christians  in  so  far  as  it  was 
his  interest  to  attach  them  to  his  side  ;  and  with  the 
defeat  of  Maxentius  by  Constantine  at  the  Milvian 
Bridge,  a.d.  312  (see  below),  persecution  in  the  West 
may  be  said  to  have  ended.  In  the  East,  under  the 
savage  Maximin,  it  went  on  with  intensified  severity 
till  a.d.  311,  when  a  welcome  relief  came.  In  that 
year  the  arch-persecutor,  Galerius,  smitten  with  a 
dreadful  internal  disease,  was  moved  to  make  peace 
with  the  Christians,  and  issued  an  edict  of  tolera- 
tion,  granting    full   liberty   of  opinion  and   worship. 


122  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

This  was  followed  in  a.d.  313  (after  a  provisional 
edict  in  a.d.  312)  by  the  famous  Edict  of  Milan  of 
Constantine  and  Licinius  (see  below).  Maximin  him- 
self, defeated  by  Licinius,  likewise  issued  an  epistle 
in  which  he  granted  full  liberty  of  worship.  One 
reason  he  gives  for  the  persecution  is  that  the 
emperors  "  had  seen  that  almost  all  men  were  aban- 
doning the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  attaching  them- 
selves to  the  party  of  the  Christians"  (Eus.,  ix.  9). 
Thus  on  every  hand  the  persecution  was  admitted  to 
have  failed,  and  Christianity  emerged  triumphant. 

5.  Career  and  Character  of  Constantine — Vic- 
tory of  Christianity.— To  judge  fairly  of  Constantine, 
distinction  should  be  made  between  the  period  b'^fore 
he  arrived  at  supreme  power  and  the  period  that  suc- 
ceeded. In  the  EARLY  PERIOD  his  character  and  conduct 
stand  before  us  in  a  most  favourable  light.  The  son 
of  Constantius  Chlorus  and  Helena  (said  to  be  the 
daughter  of  an  innkeeper),  he  was  born  at  Naissus, 
in  Dacia,  probably  in  a.d.  274.  After  his  mother's 
divorce  he  continued  to  reside  at  Nicomedia  as  a 
hostage  for  his  father's  loyalty.  He  joined  his  father 
in  Gaul  in  a.d.  305,  and  was  proclaimed  emperor  by 
the  troops  in  Britain  on  the  death  of  Constantius  in 
A.D.  306.  Galerius,  however,  only  granted  him  the 
rank  of  "Caesar."  At  the  courts  of  Diocletian  and 
Galerius  he  seems  to  have  been  a  general  favourite. 
His  high  reputation  was  maintained  in  Britain  and  in 
Gaul.  He  was  tall  and  commanding  in  appearance, 
affable  in  manners,  just  and  tolerant  in  his  rule,  pure 
in  his  personal  morals.  He  was  a  man  undoubtedly 
of  large  ambitions,  but  these  rested  on  a  conscious 
ability  to  rule. 

From  the  first  he  was  a  protector  of  the  Christians, 
and,  as  he  sped  on  from  victory  to  victory  in  their 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   123 

interests,  it  is  perhaps  not  wonderful  tliat  in  their 
eyes,  and  in  his  own,  he  should  come  to  he  regarded 
as  a  sort  of  second  Cyrus — a  special  instrument  raised 
up  by  God  for  the  deliverance  of  His  Church.  In 
A.D.  305  Maxentius,  the  son  of  Maximian,  had  (with 
his  father)  usurped  the  supreme  power  in  Italy.  His 
reign  was  one  of  intolerable  oppression.  A  historical 
battle  was  fought  between  Constantine  and  Maxentius 
at  THE  MiLviAN  Bridge,  about  nine  miles  from  Rome, 
A.D.  312,  which  issued  in  the  defeat  and  drowning  of 
the  latter. 

It  was  on  the  march  to  this  battle  that  Constantine 
had  his  famous  Vision  of  the  Cross,  which  some  speak 
of  as  his  "  Conversion."  He  saw,  or  believed  he  saw, 
a  cross  in  the  sky,  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun, 
bearing  on  it  the  words  "By  this  Conquer."  The 
same  night  Christ  appeared  to  him  in  sleep,  and 
directed  him  to  make  a  standard  of  like  pattern,  which 
should  be  to  him  a  token  of  victory. ^  There  is  nothing 
improbable  in  the  supposition  that  the  emperor  may 
have  seen  an  appearance  in  the  heavens  which  his 
excited  imagination  construed  into  a  cross  ;  or  that 
in  the  agitation  of  his  mind,  on  the  eve  of  so  critical 
a  contest,  he  may  have  had  such  a  dream  as  he 
describes.  If  his  mind  was  already  pondering  the 
question  of  the  acceptance  of  Christianity,  this  becomes 
the  more  probable.  The  sacred  standard  —  the 
Labauum — was  at  least  made,  and  the  monogram  of 
Christ  was  displayed  on  shields  and  helmets  of 
soldiers,  and  on  gems  and  coins.  Even  yet,  however, 
Constantine  was  vei-y  dimly  instructed  in  the  real 
nature  of  Christianity.     Christianity,  indeed,  was  never 


^  The  incident    was  narrated  on  oath  by  Constantine  to 
Eusebius, 


124  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

much  more  to  him  than  a  system  of  Monotheism  and 
providence. 

The  Roman  world  was  now  divided  between  Con- 
STANTiNE  AND  LiciNius  (an  "  Augustus  "  of  Galcrius), 
and  the  final  struggle  could  not  be  long  delayed.  In 
A.D.  313  the  two  emperors  issued  jointly  the  Edict  of 
Milan,  already  mentioned.  In  a.d.  314  two  battles 
were  fought,  in  which  Licinius  was  worsted.  A  truce 
of  eight  years  followed.  In  this  interval  the  mind  of 
Constantine  was  clearing,  and  not  a  few  of  his  laws 
show  a  Christian  impress.  Licinius,  on  the  other 
hand,  took  the  side  of  paganism,  and  the  last  war, 
in  A.D.  323,  was  avowedly  waged  in  the  interests 
of  the  old  religion  and  the  old  gods.  ''The  issue  of 
this  war,"  said  Licinius,  "  must  settle  the  question 
between  his  god  and  our  gods."  The  decisive  victory 
at  Hadrianople  (a.d.  323),  therefore,  was  well  under- 
stood to  be  a  victory  for  Christianity.  In  the  following 
year  (a.d.  324)  the  Christian  religion  was  established. 
The  nature  of  this  settlement,  and  some  of  the  later 
events  of  Constan tine's  reign,  on  which  dark  shadows 
rest,  are  touched  on  in  the  next  chapter. 

6.  The  Donatist  Schism. — Even  before  arriving  at 
full  power  Constantine  had  been  asked  to  adjudicate 
in  an  ecclesiastical  dispute  arising  out  of  the  perse- 
cution in  Carthage.  Mexsurius,  Bishop  of  Carthage, 
had  given  offence  to  the  stricter  party  by  evasive  con- 
duct when  called  on  to  surrender  his  Scriptures  and 
in  other  ways.  They  could  accomplish  nothing  in  his 
lifetime,  but  when  his  successor,  C^ecilian,  was  elected, 
in  A.D.  311,  they  broke  out  in  revolt  under  the  leader- 
ship of  one  Donatus,  accused  Ctecilian  of  having  been 
ordained  by  a  traditor  Felix,  and,  at  a  synod  attended 
by  seventy  bishops,  set  up  a  rival  bishop  in  the 
person   of   Majorinus.      Appeal    was   made    (by    the 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   125 

Donatists)  to  Constaiitine  to  have  the  question  deter- 
mined whether  Felix  was  really  a  traditor ;  and  a 
SERIES  OF  INVESTIGATIONS  were  held  (a.d.  313-16),  in- 
cluding one  by  the  Council  of  Arles  (ad.  314),  and 
a  final  inquiry  by  the  emperor  himself  (a.u.  316) — all 
with  the  same  result  of  clearing  Felix  and  upholding 
Ciecilian.  Majorinus  died  in  a.d.  315,  and  was 
succeeded  as  bishop  by  a  second  and  greater  Donatus, 
from  whom  the  sect  specially  takes  its  name.  Donatus 
proved  utterly  irreconcilable,  and  Constantine  was  pro- 
voked to  order  the  party  into  banishment.  This  edict 
he  recalled  next  year  (a.d.  317).  Donatism  continued 
to  spread,  and,  by  the  end  of  Constan tine's  reign,  was 
able  to  summon  a  synod  of  270  bishops.  It  became  a 
rallying  point  for  all  the  forces  of  discontent  in  the 
district,  and  gave  rise  to  outrageous  manifestations  in 
the  roaming  bodies  of  Cfrcumcellions  (=  round  the 
cottages),  whose  violence  spread  terror  through  the 
country.  The  better  Donatists,  of  course,  repudiated 
these  abases.  The  party  was  still  powerful  in  the 
days  of  Augustine  (fifth  century). 

Points  for  inquiry  and  study. — Make  a  picture  of  the  state 
of  the  Church  in  the  Decian  persecution  from  Cyprian's 
letters.  Read  the  letter  of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria.  Study 
the  evidences  of  the  large  numbers  and  social  rank  of  the 
Christians  in  this  period  (Orr).  Compare  the  different  esti- 
mates of  the  character  of  Constantine.  lUustraie  the  Dio- 
cletian persecution  from  Eusebius. 

Books.  —  For  history,  see  Gibbon  ;  Stanley's  Eastern 
Church;  Bigg's  Platonists  of  Alexandria ;  Constantine  the 
Great  in  "  Home  Library." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS  :  VICTORY 
OF  CHRISTIANITY  (Continued)  (a.d.  250-324). 

1.  Establishment  of  Christianity— Constantine's 
later  Years. — The  Christians  not  unnaturally  were 
as  men  that  dreamed  at  the  great  revolution  which 
had  taken  place  in  the  state  of  their  affairs.  By  one 
turn  of  the  wheel  they  saw  themselves  raised  from 
the  lowest  depths  of  abasement  and  suffering,  and 
their  religion  placed  on  the  throne  of  the  empire. 

When,  however,  we  speak  of  the  establishment  of 
Christianity  by  Constantine,  we  must  beware  of 
importing  into  that  phrase  the  associations  of  modern 
alliances  of  Church  and  State.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
position  of  the  Church  in  its  relation  to  the  empire 
was  very  different  from  that  held  by  the  pagan 
religion.  The  old  Roman  religion  was  part  of  the 
state  ;  it  had  no  independent  existence,  no  rights,  no 
jurisdiction  of  its  own.  Its  officers  were  state  officials, 
and  the  emperor  himself  was  Pontifex  Maximus.  In 
fact  the  Roman  state  establishment  was  not  abolished 
till  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Gratian,  near  the  end  of 
the  century  (a.d.  382).  The  Christian  Church  was 
in  quite  a  different  position.  It  had  grown  up  inde- 
pendently of  the  state,  and  possessed  a  vast  organisa- 
tion of  its  own.  It  had  its  own  office-bearers,  its  own 
laws,  its  own  canons  of  discipline,  its  own  councils,  etc. 
It  was  an  imperium  in  imperio  which  the  state  did  not 
(126) 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   127 

create,  but  could  only  recognise.  On  the  other  hand, 
NO  FORMAL  ALLIANCE  was  entered  into  between  Church 
and  State  such  as  we  are  familiar  with  in  modern 
times.  The  establishment  of  Christianity  was  not  an 
act  done  at  once,  but  grew  up  from  a  series  of  proclama- 
tions, letters,  edicts,  enactments,  gifts,  appeals  in  dis- 
putes, meetings  of  councils,  etc.,  and  only  gradually 
took  shape  as  time  went  on. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  chief  heads:  (1) 
There  were  proclamations  of  the  emperor,  publicly 
announcing  himself  a  Christian,  restoring  their  liberty 
to  the  Christians,  ordering  restitution  of  property,  and 
recommending  the  Christian  religion  to  his  subjects. 
(2)  The  emperor  encouraged  everywhere  the  huilding 
and  repairing  of  churches,  contributing  liberally  from 
his  own  funds  to  the  expenses.  (3)  He  extended  his 
Christian  legislation  and  increased  the  privileges  of  the 
clergy.  One  important  measure  was  the  legalising  of 
the  decisions  of  the  Church  in  civil  disputes  where 
parties  preferred  to  take  their  case  before  the  bishops. 
Another  was  the  conferring  on  the  Church  the  right 
to  receive  bequests.  (4)  The  puhlic  acts  of  the  state 
were  purified  from  pagan  associations,  and  conformed 
to  Christian  principles.  A  law  had  already  been 
passed  in  a.d.  321  enforcing  the  civil  observance  of 
Sunday  (dies  solis)  to  the  extent  of  suspending  all 
legal   business   and    military   exercises    on   that  day. 

(5)  The  emperor  exercised  the  authority  which  the 
Church  conceded  to  him  of  f^umnioning  rouncils  for 
the  settlement  of  doctrinal  disputes,  and  otherwise 
took  part  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  chief  example 
of  this  was  the  summoning  of  the  great  Council  of 
Nicea,  in  A.D.  325,  to  decide  the  Arian  controversy. 

(6)  While  Christianity  was  thus  protected  and  privi- 
leged, paganism  was  tolerated,  or  suffered  to  dwindle 


128  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

away  under  the  shadow  of  royal  disfavour,  except  in 
special  instances,  where  rites  of  a  licentious  character 
were  forcibly  suppressed.  The  above  were  no  doubt 
substantial  advantages  to  the  Church  ;  yet  through 
them  the  Church  was  drawn  into  the  sphere  of  earthly 
politics,  and  the  ill-defined  boundaries  between  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  led  to  the  gravest  evils. 
The  victory  of  the  Church  in  the  state  marks  at  the 
same  time  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  secularisation 
and  declension,  from  which  Moxasticism  was  a  species 
of  reaction. 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  limits  of  this  sketch  to 
recount  the  later  events  of  Constantine's  reign.  Even 
in  this  later  period  it  is  just  to  acknowledge  that 
Constantine  is  distinguished  by  many  great  and 
STRIKING  QUALITIES.  His  life  remains  unstained  by 
private  vices;  he  maintained,  with  slight  exception, 
the  policy  of  toleration  with  which  he  set  out ; 
he  took  a  sincere  interest  in  the  progress  of  the 
Christian  cause,  and  laboured  to  the  best  of  his 
knowledge  and  ability  for  the  peace  and  unity  of  the 
Church.  Even  the  dark  domestic  tragedies  of  his 
life  in  a.d.  326  are  too  much  wrapped  in  mystery  to 
enable  us  to  apportion  fairly  what  measure  of  blame 
attaches  to  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  in  him  a 
GROWING  elation  AND  COMPLACENCY  in  himsclf  as  an 
instrument  chosen  by  God  to  fulfil  His  purposes — a 
consciousness  not  sufficiently  tempered  by  the  feeling 
of  personal  unworthiness.  With  this  tendency  to  self- 
elation  went  a  strong  dash  of  personal  vanity  and 
growing  love  of  splendour,  seen  not  only  in  the  adorn- 
ment of  his  person  in  robes  of  Oriental  sumptuousness, 
but  in  the  gratification  of  expensive  tastes  in  building. 
The  most  conspicuous  example  of  this  was  the  rear- 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   129 

ing  of  his  new  and  splendid  capital — Constantinople 
(dedicated  a.d.  330).  The  lavish  expenditure  on  this 
city  and  on  the  gorgeous  establishment  of  his  court 
involved  him  in  the  necessity  of  imposing  heavy 
taxation  on  his  subjects,  so  that  his  reign  came  to  be 
regarded  as  despotic  and  oppressive.  Even  on  the 
subject  of  his  blameworthy  self-exaltation  account 
should  be  taken  of  the  trmptations  to  which  he  was 
exposed,  and  of  the  extravagant  adulation  he  received 
from  the  Christians  around  him.  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  facts  in  his  career  is  that  while  the  patron 
of  Christianity,  the  friend  of  bishops,  judge  of  their 
controversies,  president  in  their  councils,  a  preacher 
and  exhorter  to  Christian  living,  he  himself  did  not 
RECEIVE  BAPTISM  till  the  last  days  of  his  life  (a.d.  337). 
We  may,  despite  it  all,  find  much  in  Constantine  not 
unworthy  of  the  great  repute  he  has  always  had  in 
the  Church. 

2.  The  Church  Outside  the  Empire — Mani- 
chseism. — The  Gospel  by  the  time  now  reached  had 
penetrated  into  many  countries  outside  the  bounds  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  There  had  long  been  Christians 
in  Arabia  ;  a  Gothic  bishop  was  present  at  the  Council 
of  Nica^a ;  Armenia,  under  Tiridates,  at  first  a  violent 
persecutor,  had  been  persuaded  to  receive  the  Gospel 
from  Gregory  the  Illuminator  about  a.d.  302  ;  Georgia 
received  Christianity  about  a.d.  326.  Persia,  too, 
had  large  numbers  of  Christians,  who  were  soon  to 
undergo  a  fierce  persecution.  The  Gospel  found  its 
way  into  Ethiopia  (Abyssinia)  through  two  captive 
youths,  Edesius  and  Frumentius,  one  of  whom  after- 
wards (under  Athanasius)  became  the  bishop  of  the 
Church. 

In  connection  with  Persia,  notice  must  be  taken  of 
the  rise  in  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century  of  the 
9 


130  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

form  of  heresy  known  as  Manich.eism.  In  general, 
Manichseism  is  a  mixture  of  Persian  dualism  with 
ideas  borrowed  from  Christianity  and  Gnosticism.  Its 
fantastic  ideas  might  seem  to  put  it  beyond  serious 
consideration  ;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  it  had 
fascination  enough  to  enslave  for  nine  years  even  such 
an  intellect  as  Augustine's,  and  that,  despite  persecu- 
tion, it  went  on  propagating  itself  for  centiu'ies,  giving 
rise  to  sects  in  the  Middle  Ages,  which  were  no  small 
trouble  to  the  ruling  powers  (Paulicians,  Cathari,  etc.). 
The  rise  of  Manichaeism  was  coincident  with  the  acces- 
sion of  a  NEW  Persian  dynasty  (the  Sassanidse),  and 
of  a  great  revival  of  Zoroastrianism. 

The  founder  of  the  sect,  Mani,  was  a  young  and 
talented  Persian,  who,  under  Sapor  I.  (a.d.  240-72),^ 
conceived  the  idea  of  bringing  about  a  fusion  of  the 
Zoroastrian  and  Christian  religions.  He  had  to  flee, 
and  in  the  course  of  extensive  travels  (India,  etc.) 
evolved  his  religious  scheme  into  definite  form.  Re- 
turning to  Persia  on  the  death  of  Sapor,  he  met  at  first 
with  a  flattering  reception,  but  finally  was  denounced 
as  a  heretic  and  flayed  alive  (a.d.  277  ?).  The  system 
is  a  piece  of  extravagant  mythology  from  first  to  last. 
It  starts  with  the  dualistic  conception  of  a  Kingdom 
of  Good  (Light)  and  a  Kingdom  of  Evil  (Darkness). 
The  Kingdom  of  Evil  invades  the  Kingdom  of  Good, 
and  bears  off"  from  it  a  portion  of  its  light  substance. 
It  is  these  particles  of  light  imprisoned  in  the  chaotic 
elements  of  this  lower  world  which  give  to  the  latter 
its  mingled  character.  They  suffer  acutely,  it  is 
supposed,  in  being  thus  held  in  material  bonds.  The 
Manichaeans  spoke  of  this  as  the  crucifixion  of  the 
Eternal  Christ  throughout  creation.    Creation  (organi- 

^  The  dates  ia  Mani's  life  are  quite  uncertain. 


THP:  age  of  the  great  persecutions   131 

sation)  is  an  expedient  for  their  liberation.  Man  is 
created  by  the  evil  j)owers  that  tlie  higlier  elements 
might  be  more  securely  bound  ;  but  the  concentration 
aids,  instead  of  retarding,  the  process  of  evolution. 
RedempiK'N  is  through  a  higher  power  (the  "  Primeval 
Man  "),  identified  with  tlie  Sjnrit  of  the  Sun,  or 
Mithras.  The  end  of  the  development  is  the  total 
separation  of  the  light  from  the  darkness.  Mani 
formed  a  Chukch,  with  two  grades  of  members : 
(1)  the  auditors,  or  outer  circle  ;  and  (2)  the  elect, 
or  sacerdotal  caste,  the  "  perfect"  of  the  Manichseaa 
sect.  These  did  no  work,  but  were  maintained  by 
the  auditors.  Augustine  wrote  elaborate  refutations 
of  the  system. 

3.  Theology — The  Monarchian  Heresies. — As 
the  second  centur}-  was  the  period  of  the  Gnostic 
heresies,  so  the  third  century  is  pre-eminently  the 
period  of  what  are  known  as  the  Monarchian  heresies. 
We  have  reserved  a  brief  connected  account  of  these 
to  the  present  point.  They  arose  partly  as  a  reaction 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  developed  by  the 
Apologists  and  old  Catholic  Fathers,  w^hich  seemed 
to  put  in  jeopardy  the  unity  {inonarchia)  of  God  ; 
and  partly  as  a  protest  against  the  subordinationist 
doctrines  of  certain  of  the  Fathers,  which  seemed  to 
imperii  the  Christian  interest  of  the  true  divinity  of 
the  Son. 

The  simplest  form  of  reaction  against  Trinitarian 
views  is  an  Ebionitic,  humanitarian,  or  purely  Uni- 
tarian VIEW  of  Christ,  and  this  we  find  developing 
itself  in  the  end  of  the  second  century  and  begin- 
ning of  the  third.  Of  Jewish  Ebionitism  we  spoke  in 
the  second  chapter.  In  the  Gentile  Church  we  have 
an  early  form  of  Monarchianism  in  the  Alogi  (deniers 
of  the  Logos),  an  obscure  sect  of  Asia  Minor,  about 


132  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

A.D.  170,  who  rejected  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  At 
Rome  pure  Unitarianism  was  represented  in  the 
Theodotians,  under  Victor  and  Zephyriniis  (a.d.  190- 
218),  and  the  Artemonites,  a  few  years  later.  Christ, 
in  this  view,  was  ''mere  man."  The  Artemonites 
were  replied  to  in  a  book  called  The  Little  Labyrinth, 
by  Cains,  a  Roman  presbyter,  who  adduces  against 
them  the  testimony  of  ancient  hymns. 

More  remarkable  was  the  type  of  Monarchianism 
produced  by  the  Christological  interest.  Here  the 
aim  was  to  make  sure  that  in  Christ  men  had  no 
secondary  or  derived  being,  but  the  absolute  God  ; 
and  this  w^as  thought  to  be  secured  only  by  the 
assertion  that  in  Christ  the  Father  Himself  had 
iDecome  incarnate  and  suffered.  Hence  the  name 
Patripassians  given  to  this  party.  The  oldest  re- 
presentative of  it  we  know  of  was  Praxeas,  at  Rome 
(about  A.D.  177-90),  against  whom  Tertullian  wrote 
a  treatise.  Praxeas  tried  to  explain  that  Christ, 
according  to  the  flesh,  was  "Son,"  but  the  divine 
element  in  Him  was  the  "  Father."  He  stayed  him- 
self upon  the  words,  "  I  and  My  Father  are  one " 
(John  X.  30).  A  more  subtle  form  of  the  same 
doctrine  was  taught  under  succeeding  episcopates  by 
Noetus  (about  a.d.  200)  and  his  disciple  Cleomenes. 
Noetus  affirmed  the  capacity  in  God  of  existing  in 
different  modes.  As  ingenerate,  God  was  Father  ;  as 
generate,  He  was  Son.  Hippolytus  wrote  against 
Noetus.  Both  Tertullian  and  Hippolytus  accuse  the 
Roman  bishops  of  the  period  of  sympathy  with  this 
error.  Origen,  at  a  synod  in  Arabia  (a.d.  244),  had 
the  satisfaction  of  recovering  Beryllus,  of  Bostra,  from 
a  similar  heresy. 

The  defect  of  these  theories  was  their  failure  to  do 
justice  to  the  Trinitarian  distinction  plainly  involved 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS    VS^ 

in  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  (Jod.  Tliis  fault  was 
met  in  the  Modalistk;  Trinitariamsm  of  Sahellius — 
the  most  completely  evolved  and  longest  enduring  of 
these  Monarchian  heresies.  Sabellius  (a  Libyan  ?)  is 
first  met  with  in  Rome  under  the  episcopate  of 
Zephyrinus  (a.d.  202-18)  as  an  adherent  of  Cleomenes. 
He  was  excommunicated  by  Callistus  (himself  a  Patri- 
passian).  His  heresy  had  a  powerfid  revival  in  North 
Africa  about  a.d.  260,  and  reappeared  in  the  fourth 
century  as  a  reaction  against  Arianism  (Marcellus). 
In  principle  its  solution  is  the  substitution  of  a 
Trinity  of  revelation  for  a  Trinity  of  essence  ;  a  Trinity 
OF  MODES  OR  ASPECTS  of  the  One  Divine  Being  for  a 
Trinity  of  Persons.  The  one  God  {Monas)  expands 
and  contracts  in  successive  revelations,  as  the  arm 
may  be  outstretched  and  di-awn  back  again,  (iod 
revealed  in  the  Law  is  the  Father,  in  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Son,  in  the  indw^elling  in  believers  is  the  Sjnrit. 
The  incarnation  is  thus  a  passing  mode  of  God's  mani- 
festation. Pushed  to  its  issue,  it  means  nothing 
more  than  a  dynamical  presence  of  God  in  the  soul 
of  Christ. 

This  yields  the  transition  to  the  last  phase  of 
Monarchian  doctrine,  viz.,  the  dynamical  Unitarla.nism 
of  Paul  of  Samosata,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  a.d.  260-70. 
Paul  was  a  vain,  ostentatious,  theatrical  man,  of  whom 
many  discreditable  things  are  related.  He  held,  like 
the  earlier  Unitarians,  that  Christ  was  mere  man,  but 
affirmed  a  union  of  the  Divine  Logos  (or  reason)  with 
Christ  in  a  degree  predicable  of  no  other.  Through 
this  interpenetration  by  the  Divine  power  Christ  ad- 
vances by  "  progressive  development  "  till  He  be- 
comes God,  or  is  raised  to  Divine  rank.  Deity  here 
only  means  that  Christ  was  deemed  worthy  for  His 
peculiar   excellence  of  Divine   honours  -not  that   He 


134  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

became  God  in  nature.  It  was  apotheosis  ;  deifica- 
tion by  favour.  Two  influential  synods  were  held  at 
Antioch  on  the  subject  of  Paul's  heresy  (a.d.  264  and 
269),  at  the  second  of  which  he  was  condemned.  He 
held,  however,  by  his  palace  and  dignities  till  forcibly 
expelled  three  years  later  (a.d.  272). 

4.  Church  Teachers  and  Literature  of  the 
Period.  -  The  Church  teachers  of  this  period  are  not 
men  of  the  mental  stature  of  the  great  Fathers  of  the 
previous  age,  but  they  are  interesting  characters,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  Church  life  of  their  day. 
Among  the  Greek  writers,  the  chief  interest  centres 
in  the  school  of  Origen — the  Alexandrian  school — 
graced  by  such  names  as  Dionysius  of  Alexandria, 
Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  Firmilian  of  Cappadocia,  and 
Pamphilus  of  Ctesarea. 

Dionysius  of  Alexandria  has  already  been  before 
us  as  a  witness  to  the  facts  of  the  Decian  persecution. 
He  was  a  man  of  the  utmost  mildness  and  concilia- 
toriness  of  disposition,  and  on  this  account  his  advice 
and  mediation  were  much  sought  after  in  the  various 
disputes  of  the  Church.  He  was  born  about  a.d.  190 
of  wealthy  parents,  and  in  early  life  was  brought  to 
faith  in  Christ.  He  attached  himself  to  Origen ;  was 
made  presbyter  in  a.d.  233 ;  became  head  of  the 
catechetical  school  in  Alexandria;  in  a.d.  247  or  248 
was  elected  bishop.  He  suffered  loss  and  exile  in  the 
Decian  and  Valerian  persecutions,  but  returned  at  the 
peace  under  Gallienus.  He  died  a.d.  265.  A  good 
many  fragments  of  his  works  and  some  of  his  letters 
remain  to  us. 

Not  unlike  Dionysius  in  some  respects  was  a  second 
great  pupil  of  Origen — Gregoky  Thaumaturgus  (the 
wonder-worker).  Gregory's  original  name  was  Theo- 
dorus,  and  his  surname  was  given  him  on  account  of 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERRECUTIONS   135 

the  repute  he  ciiiiie  to  have  as  a  iniracle-worker.  The 
accounts  cf  these  miracles,  however,  are  late.  In 
a  Panegyric  on  Or'njen^  delivered  when  leaving  the 
school  at  Ciesarea,  he  gives  a  full  account  of  his  life  up 
to  that  time.  He  was  born  at  Neo-Ceesarea,  in  Pontus, 
about  A.D.  210,  of  noble  and  wealthy  parents.  Led 
accidentally  to  Ctcsarea  in  Palestine,  he  was  arrested 
by  the  genius  of  Origen,  and  became  his  most  devoted 
disciple.  His  soul  became  knit  to  Origen,  as  he  says, 
like  the  soul  of  Jonathan  to  David.  He  remained 
with  Origen  five  years  (c.  a.d.  233-38).  About  a.d.  240 
he  became  bishop  of  his  native  city,  and  had  such 
success  that,  at  his  death  about  a.d.  270,  it  is  said 
there  were  only  seventeen  pagans  remaining.  His 
evangelising  activity  was  incessant,  but  he  erred  in 
too  great  concession  to  pagan  customs.  Like  all 
Origen's  pupils,  Gregory  was  a  man  of  liberal,  candid, 
cultured  mind,  actuated  by  a  strong  love  of  truth,  and 
of  earnest  and  glowing  piety.  Several  of  his  genuine 
writings  remain  to  us. 

FiRMiLiAN,  Bishop  of  Csesarea  in  Cappadocia,  was 
one  of  the  most  influential  bishops  of  his  time,  but 
does  not  seem  to  have  written  much.  Origen  took 
refuge  with  him  during  the  persecution  of  Maximin  in 
A.D.  235.  A  letter  to  Cyprian  denouncing  Stephen  of 
Rome  is  all  we  have  from  his  pen. 

Mention  must  be  made  finally  of  a  member  of  the 
school  of  Alexandria  who  did  splendid  service  to  the 
cause  of  sacred  learning  in  the  end  of  the  third  cen- 
tury— Pamphilus  of  CiESAREA,  foundcr  of  the  famous 
library  in  that  city,  and  friend  of  Eusebius.  Pam- 
philus was  a  native  of  Phoenicia,  and,  like  the  others 
named,  came  from  a  wealthy  family.  He  studied  at 
Alexandria  under  Pierius,  and  there  contracted  an 
unbounded    admiration    for    Origen.       Removing    to 


136  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Cffisarea,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  great  task  of  his 
life — the  collection  and  cop3''ing  of  MSS.  of  the 
Scriptures,  of  commentaries,  and  other  works  of  value. 
The  literary  treasures  thus  amassed  were  of  priceless 
worth,  and  furnished  Eusebius  with  ample  material 
for  his  literary  undertakings.  In  the  fifth  year  of  the 
Diocletian  persecution  Pamphilus  was  thrown  into 
prison,  and  was  finally  martyred,  with  eleven  others, 
in  A.D.  309.  He  wrote  in  conjunction  with  Eusebius 
an  elaborate  work,  The  Defence  of  Origen.  So  intense 
was  Eusebius's  appreciation  of  this  good  man — "  the 
holy  and  blessed  Pamphilus,"  as  he  calls  him — that 
after  his  martyrdom  he  adopted  his  name  as  part 
of  his  own. 

Origen,  however,  had  also  his  opponents,  of  whom 
the  principal  was  Methodius,  Bishop  of  Olympius,  in 
Lycia  (later  of  Tyre),  who  perished  under  Maximin 
about  A.D.  311.  We  have  from  him  a  mystical 
dialogue  in  praise  of  virginity,  The  Banquet  of  the  Ten 
Virgins.  Only  fragments  remain  of  his  attacks  on 
Origen's  views  of  creation,  pre-existence,  the  resur- 
rection, etc. 

It  was  formerly  mentioned  that  the  Alexandrian 
theologians  were  speculative,  idealising,  Platonising, 
allegorising  in  their  tendency,  liberal  in  their  whole 
attitude  to  culture. ^  Before  the  century  closed,  how- 
ever, we  note  the  beginnings  of  another  school — the 
Antiochian — which  was  to  have  a  long  and  influential 
history  as  the  rival  of  the  Alexandrian.  This  second 
school  is  marked  from  the  commencement  by  a  sober, 
matter-of-fact  tendency,  a  preference  of  Aristotelianism 
to  Platonism,  and  an  adherence  to  a  strictly  gram- 
matical and  historical  method  of  exegesis.     Its  founder 

^  See  above,  Chap.  viii. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   137 

was  LuciAN,  who,  like  the  heretical  bishop  Paul,  was  a 
native  of  Samosata.  Lucian  himself  fell  under  sus- 
picion of  unsound  views,  and  was  separated  from  the 
Church  during  three  episcopates.  He  was  restored  to 
the  Church,  carried  on  his  school  with  distinguished 
success,  and  finally  crowned  his  career  by  a  heroic 
martyrdom  in  a.d.  311  or  312.  His  method  was 
predominatingly  exegetical,  and  his  style  of  exegesis 
was  grammatical  and  literal.  His  school  is  the 
reputed  fountain-head  of  the  Arian  heresy.  Later  it 
had  such  distinguished  representatives  as  Chrysostom, 
Theodore  of  Alopsuestia,  and  Theodoret.  A  creed 
attributed  to  Lucian  was  presented  to  a  Council  of 
Antioch  in  a.d.   341. 

The  Latin  writers  of  the  period  may  be  more 
summarily  alluded  to.  Commodian  (about  a.d.  250) 
wrote  Instructions  for  Christian  Living^  and  an  apo- 
logetic poem  against  Jews  and  Gentiles,  both  in  rude 
Latin  hexameters.  A  little  earlier  Julius  Africanus 
(died  about  a.d.  240),  the  first  Christian  chrono- 
grapher,  had  drawn  up  a  work,  in  five  books,  setting 
forth  the  course  of  sacred  and  profane  history  till 
the  reign  of  Elagabalus.  The  two  Latin  writers  who 
belong  properly  to  our  period  are  Arxobius  and  Lac- 
tantius,  both  apologists  in  the  time  of  the  Diocletian 
persecution.  The  apology  of  Arnobius,  a  teacher  of 
rhetoric.  Against  the  Nations,  is  in  seven  books,  and, 
as  might  be  expected  in  a  recent  convert,  is  not  very 
mature  in  Christian  doctrine.  It  is,  however,  an  able, 
learned,  and  convincing  defence  of  the  Christians  from 
many  of  the  objections  brought  against  them,  and 
an  eflfective  enough  exposure  of  the  folly  of  idolatry. 
Arnobius  lays  stress  on  the  unique  and  well-attested 
character  of  Christ's  miracles  and  the  excellence  of 
the  Christian   morality.     Lactantius    is    reputed  the 


138  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

most  classical  and  elegant  of  all  the  Christian  writers. 
His  apologetic  work,  The  Divine  Institutes,  in  seven 
books,  was,  in  its  finished  form,  dedicated  to  Constan- 
tine.  He  wrote  also  a  work,  On  the  Death  of  the 
Persecutors,  narrating  the  judgments  of  God  on  the 
persecutors  of  the  Christians  from  Nero  onwards.  He 
died  in  old  age,  about  a.d.  330. 

A  last  name  to  be  noticed  is  that  of  the  Greek  writer 
and  great  Church  historian,  Eusebius  of  CiESAREA, 
who,  though  he  belongs  properly  to  the  next  age,  yet 
begins  his  activity  in  this.  He  is  indeed  the  link 
between  the  old  and  the  new  order.  He  was  born  prob- 
ably about  A.D.  260.  His  early  associations  are  with 
Caesarea,  of  which  cit}^  he  became  bishop  about  a.d. 
315.  He  held  this  position  till  his  death  in  a.d.  339 
or  340.  Eusebius  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  learn- 
ing and  industry,  and  his  works  form  a  little  library 
of  themselves.  They  are  of  all  classes — historical, 
apologetic,  exegetical,  critical,  doctrine,  orations,  etc. 
Reference  need  only  be  made  here  to  his  Ecclesiastical 
History,  extending  from  the  birth  of  Christ  to  the 
defeat  of  Licinius  in  a.d.  323  ;  his  two  apologetic 
works,  the  Evangelical  Preparation  (fifteen  books), 
and  the  Evangelical  Demonstration  (twenty  books,  ten 
extant) ;  his  Chronicle  (based  on  Julian  Africanus,  part 
in  Jerome's  translation)  ;  and  his  Life  of  Constantine, 
a  panegyric  rather  than  a  biography,  yet  important 
for  facts.  The  works  of  Eusebius  are  often  desultory 
and  ill-arranged  ;  he  has  little  independent  merit  as  a 
theologian,  and  inclines  to  laxity  of  opinion ;  he  plays 
the  courtier  with  too  much  success  to  "our  pious 
emperor  "  ;  yet  his  writings  are  invaluable  as  sources 
of  information,  and  for  the  extracts  they  preserve.  In 
the  use  of  authorities  he  shows  himself  most  accurate, 
painstaking  and  faithful — a  virtue  of  the  first  rank. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  (4REAT  PERSECUTIONS    139 
5.  Points  in  Church  Constitution  and  Worship. 

— The  cliief  iiuitters  reijuiriiig  to  bo  ^hmced  at   liere 
may  be  gathered  up  under  a  few  heads. 

(1)  CiiUKCH  Buildings. — These  became  common  in 
the  course  of  the  third  century,  and  were  greatly 
multiplied  after  the  victory  of  Constantine.  The 
model  usually  followed  was  that  of  the  liomnn  basilica. 
The  basilica  was  a  building  of  oblong  shape,  which 
served  the  double  purpose  of  a  hall  of  justice  and 
place  of  concourse.  The  body  of  the  building  con- 
sisted of  a  central  portion  or  nave  and  side  aisles,  one 
or  more,  separated  off  by  pillars.  At  the  upper  end, 
in  a  semi-circular  recess,  were  the  praetor's  chair,  the 
seats  of  the  judges,  and  in  front  the  altar,  where 
incense  was  burned  and  oaths  were  taken.  This  form 
of  building  readily  adapted  itself  to  Christian  pur- 
poses.^ The  larger  churches  stood  in  a  court  or  atrium, 
surrounded  by  colonnades.  The  doors  opened  into  a 
vestibule  or  narthex,  which  was  as  far  as  penitents  were 
permitted  to  approach.  The  congregation  assembled 
in  the  nave,  or  broad  middle  part  of  the  church.  At 
the  upper  end  a  railed-off  portion  was  reserved  for  the 
choir  and  inferior  orders  of  clergy — the  chancel  (fr., 
cancellus,  a  railing).  Here  also  on  one  side  stood  the 
pulpit  (amho).  Finally,  the  semi-circular  part  [a2:)se) 
formed  the  special  sanctuary.  The  prtetor's  seat 
became  the  bishop's  throne  ;  around  him  sat  the 
presbyters  and  deacons  ;  the  altar  in  front  became 
the  communion  table  (now  also  called  altar),  etc.  In 
the  more  splendid  churches  all  the  parts,  doors,  pillars, 
apse  and  galleries,  were  finely  adorned.  In  contradic- 
tion to  later  practice  the  church   was  sometimes  so 

^  The  description  of  the  Church  of  Tyre,  in  Ens.,  x.  4,  may 
be  compared. 


140  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

placed  that  the  rising  sun  might  strike  upon  ita  front 
(so  at  Tyre), 

(2)  Development  of  Church  Offices. — In  the  third 
century  Church  offices  became  greatly  multiplied.  The 
clergy  were  now  divided  into  two  groups — the  Grkater 
Orders  {ordiyies  major es)^  consisting  of  bishops,  presby- 
ters and  deacons  ;  and  the  Lesser  Orders  {ordines 
minores)f  consisting  of  sub-deacons,  readers,  acolytes 
(attendants  on  the  bishop),  exorcists,  precentors,  door- 
keepers, catechists,  etc.  The  distinction  between 
clergy  and  laity  was  now  firmly  established. 

(3)  Development  of  Church  Service. — If  we  may 
trust  the  oldest  liturgies  (that,  e.f/.,  in  the  so-called 
Apostolical  Const /'tuitions  from  fourth  century),  the 
Church  service  had  by  the  end  of  the  third  century 
become  highly  liturgical  and  elaborate.  The  service 
was  now  divided  into  two  parts— catechumens,  peni- 
tents, etc.,  being  dismissed  before  the  Eucharistic 
celebration  began.  The  Eucharistic  siiRVicE  itself 
w^as  highly  complex  and  ornate,  including  long  prayers, 
responses,  prescribed  actions  of  the  priest.  The  clergy 
had  distinctive  vestments.  Festival  days  were  now 
observed — especially  Easter  and  Pentecost.  The  whole 
period  between  these  feasts  was  apparently  observed 
as  a  time  of  gladness.  Music  in  the  Church  was  more 
highly  developed.  We  have  met  with  references  to 
hymns,  and  there  were  now  regular  choristers  and 
conductors.  1>aftism  was  generally  connected  with 
the  above  feast-days,  and  certain  rites  had  gradually 
become  connected  with  the  original  ceremony,  e.g., 
trine  immersion  (thrice  dipping  of  head),  the  sign 
of  the  cross  on  the  forehead  and  breast,  giving  the 
baptised  person  milk  and  honey,  unction  on  the  head, 
a  white  robe,  etc.  The  practice  of  exorcism  had  also 
become  part  of  the  ritual.     Shortly  before  baptism  the 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   141 

creed  was  imparted  to  the  catechumen  as  a  sort  of 
password  [synihol).  Baptism  in  grave  cases  of  sick- 
ness was  administered  by  sprinkling  (clinical  baptism). 

The  DISCIPLINE  of  the  Church  was  also  made  more 
elaborate.  This  followed  from  the  prominence  given 
to  the  idea  of  penance  for  the  removal  of  post- 
baptismal  sin.  Penitents  were  now  regularly  classi- 
fied into  weepers  (who  prostrated  themselves  at  church 
doors  imploring  restoration),  hearers  (who  were  allowed 
to  hear  the  Scrij)tare  lessons  and  sermon),  kneehrs 
(who  were  admitted  to  the  prayers,  but  in  a  kneeling 
posture),  and  slanders  (who  were  allowed  to  take  part 
in  the  whole  worship  standing). ^  The  course  of  pro- 
bation was  often  three  or  four  years. 

(4)  Development  of  Church  Councils. — Meetings 
of  this  kind  sprang  up  informally  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  second  century.  They  were  at  first  quite  local, 
one  bishop  inviting  other  bishops  and  clergy  to  con- 
fer with  him  on  matters  of  common  concern,  and  their 
decisions  had  no  binding  force  on  other  churches.  In 
these  early  councils  presbyters  and  laymen  took  part 
as  well  as  bishops ;  latterly  only  bishops  appear  to 
have  voted.  As  councils  assumed  a  more  regular 
character  they  came  to  be  distinguished  into  dif- 
ferent kinds.  (1)  There  was  the  jjarochial  council 
of  the  bishop  and  the  clergy  of  his  city.  (2)  There 
were  provincial  councils,  attended  by  the  clergy  of  a 
whole  province.  These  were  generally  held  in  the 
metropolitan  city,  and  the  bishop  of  that  city  pre- 
sided. (3)  Tertullian  speaks  of  councils  of  a  whole 
region  (regionis)  —  national  councils.  (4)  Finally, 
when  the  empire  became  Christian,  and  the  emperor 
himself  undertook  the  summoning  of  councils,  there 

1  Thus  SchafE. 


142  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

became  possible  councils  of  the  whole  Church — 
ecumenical  councils.  The  first  of  these  was  the  Nicene 
(a.d.  325).  In  reality  these  were  almost  exclusively 
Greek  councils.  The  decrees  of  the  councils  were  now 
compulsorily  imposed  by  the  emperors.  As  examples 
of  councils  may  be  mentioned  those  in  Asia  Minor 
about  the  Montanists  and  Easter,  those  in  North 
Africa  on  heretical  baptism,  those  in  Antioch  about 
Paul  of  Samosata,  the  Council  of  Aries  against  the 
Donatists,  the  Council  of  Elvira  in  Spain  (a.d.  306), 
etc. 

(5)  Gradations  of  Rank  in  the  Episcopate  Itself. — 
These  sprung  from  the  meetings  of  councils  and  other 
causes  in  the  state  of  the  Church.  The  bishops  of  the 
metropolitan  cities  soon  attained  from  their  position 
a  higher  rank  than  other  bishops,  and  were  known 
as  metropolitans.  The  sanction  of  the  metropolitan 
came  ultimately  to  be  necessary  to  the  validity  of  the 
election  of  another  bishop.  This  was  followed  in  the 
fourth  century  by  the  elevation  of  the  bishops  of  cer- 
tain Churches  deemed  worthy  of  special  honour  to  the 
wider  jurisdiction  of  patriarchs.  Such  Churches  were 
Antioch,  Alexandria  and  Rome,  to  which  Constan- 
tinople (as  new  Rome)  and  .Jerusalem  were  subse- 
quently added — five  in  all.  This,  however,  carries  us 
beyond  our  special  limits. 

Our  sketch  has  brought  us  to  the  triumph  of  Con- 
stantine,  and  formal  adoption  of  Christianity  as  the 
religion  of  the  empire.  Ere,  however,  this  consum- 
mation was  reached,  the  Arian  controversy  had  broken 
out  (a.d.  318),  and  the  Church  was  in  flames  from 
within,  to  the  unconcealed  delight  of  the  pagan  on- 
lookers, and  the  intense  chagrin  of  the  emperor,  who 
had  hoped  to  find  in  this  monotheistic  faith  a  bond 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  GREAT  PERSECUTIONS   143 

of  peace  in  his  dominions.  The  Nicene  Council  itself 
(a.[).  325)  did  httle  more  than  open  new  controversies, 
with  which  for  half  a  century  the  world  and  Church 
were  filled.  Nan-ow-minded  imperial  interference 
made  matters  ever  worse.  Over  all  the  storms  looms 
the  noble  figure  of  Athanasius,  who  appears  already 
upon  the  scene  before  our  period  closes.  To  him  the 
Church  owes  nearly  all  its  real  guidance  in  the  dis- 
tractions of  the  age  that  follows.  Athanasius  contra 
mundum.  On  the  verge  of  this  new  era  we  cease  our 
tale. 

Points  for  inquiry  and  study. — Study  Constantine's  later 
career,  and  contrast  him  with  contemporaries.  Read  the 
Fundamental  Epistle  of  Mani  and  other  Manichsean  exposi- 
tions given  in  Augustine's  works.  Read  the  account  of  Paul 
of  Samosata  in  Eus.  vii.  30.  Study  more  fully  the  contrast 
of  the  Alexandrian  and  Antiochian  schools  of  theology.  Read 
Gregory's  Panegyric  on  Origen.  Read  the  so-called  Liturgy 
of  Clement  in  Apostolical  Constitutions.  Compare  different 
theories  of  the  origin  of  Church  buildings  (see  Lanciani, 
Pagan  and  Christian  Rome). 

Books. — Gibbon,  Neander,  and  Pressense  on  Manichaeism  ; 
Hatch's  Organisation  of  Early  Churches ;  Farrar's  Lives  of 
Fathers  {cf.  Pressens6)  ;  Lanciani  as  above  ;  Brace's  Gesta 
Christi ;  Church  histories  on  theology  and  worship. 


TABLE  OF  ROMAN  EMPERORS. 


A.D. 

Reigned. 

Augustus  . 

14 

Tiberius     . 

14-37 

23  years 

Caligula     . 

37-41 

4     „ 

Claudius    . 

41-64 

13     „ 

Nero 

64-68 

14     „ 

Galba 

68-69 

Otho 

69 

Vitellius     . 

69 

Vespasian 

69-79 

10     „ 

Titus 

79-81 

2     ., 

Domitian  . 

81-96 

15     „ 

Nerva 

96-98 

2     „ 

Trajan 

98-117 

19     „ 

Hadrian     . 

117-138 

21     „ 

Antoninus  Pius 

138-161 

23     „ 

Marcus  Aurelius 

161-180 

19     „ 

Commodus 

180-192 

12     „ 

Pertinax    . 

193 

Julianus    . 

193 

Septimius  Severus     . 

193-211 

18     „ 

Caracalla 

211-217 

6     „ 

Macrinus 

217-218 

1     „ 

Elagabalus 

218-222 

4     „ 

Alexander  Severus    . 

222-235 

13     „ 

INIaximin   .         .         .         . 

235-238 

3     „ 

Gordians  I.  and  II.  . 

238 

:\Iaximus  and  Balbinus    . 

238 

Gordian  III. 

238-244 

6     „ 

Philip 

244-249 

5     „ 

Decius       .         .        .         . 

249-251 

2     „ 

Gallus        .         .         .         . 

251-254 

3     „ 

^milianus        . 

253 

(145) 


10 


146 


THE  EARLY  CHURCH 


-A 


( Valerian    . 
\  Gallienus 

Claudius  II. 

Aurelian    . 

Tacitus 

Florianus 

Probus 

Carus 
/  Carinus 
^  Numerian 
[  Diocletian 
I  Maximian 

Constantius  Chlorus 

Galerius    ■. 

Maxentius  (Italy) 
jLicinius   . 
\  Constantine  the  Great 


A.D. 

254-260 
254-268 
268-270 
270-275 
275-276 

276 
276-282 
282-283 
283-284 
283-284 
284-305 
286-305 
305-306 
305-311 
805-312 
307-323 
306-337 


Reigned. 

6 
14 

2 

5 

1 

6 

1 

1 

1 
21 
19 

1 

6 

7 
16 
31 


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